High-speed telecoms services to businesses in rural areas equal to those in urban areas is the unexpected dividend following the Higher Education Authority’s (HEA) internet service provider HEAnet contracting wireless broadband specialist AirSpeed Telecom to deploy a high-speed data service of up to 300Mbps to the North Clare, Galway, Mayo and Donegal areas.According to Silicon.republic.com, the three-year contract was awarded to AirSpeed following a competitive tender process, and is part of HEAnet’s National Backbone Extension (NBE) programme. All links deployed can support up to 300Mbps of capacity, and the service will also be made available to businesses operating in the region.
The project required a presence on six strategic high sites across Galway, namely, RTÉ Creggs, Tully Beg, Seanfeastin, Tonabrocky, Carron and Lahinch, which is strategic for areas such as Inverin and Spiddal. These sites are the highest points overlooking the Galway Gaeltacht and together form a backbone which connects back to Galway and onto the internet via AirSpeed’s fibre link to Dublin.
