Telecoms firm Magnet has fitted out a South Dublin apartment block with 1Gbps broadband as part of a wider experiment to see what residents would do with such speeds.

The 1Gbps fibre service is being deployed at the Jade apartments at The Grange, off the Stillorgan Road, and will service 120 apartments.

A spokesman for Magnet told Siliconrepublic.com that a similar development is planned for the Beacon apartments in Sandyford.

The service will cost €50 per month, to encourage people to sign up.

The fibre is being installed in the Jade apartments in collaboration with construction company JJ Rhatigan & Co.

Magnet will provide the 1Gbps service in a synchronous fashion, meaning users will be able to receive 1,000Mbps upstream and downstream.

The 1Gbps service is being deployed under the auspices of Magnet Project Leap to determine the impact of ultra-fast speeds on consumers’ use of devices and applications.

According to Magnet, 1Gbps will allow potentially 200 Netflix movies to be streamed simultaneously, 100 songs to be downloaded in three seconds, and 200 family photos to be uploaded to Facebook in just one second.

While companies such as Apple and Google prepare apps and services for the connected home, Magnet predicts the data demands of ‘smart living’ could require this speed of broadband within five years, as 4K video content, video chatting, cloud storage access and streaming, in particular, become part and parcel of everyday family life.

“This project is the latest in Magnet’s history of ‘firsts’ in Ireland, as we transfer our leading-edge capability and corporate fibre horsepower in the business sector to the residential environment,” said Magnet chief executive Mark Kellett.

“This capability puts us in a unique position, being more agile and able to go anywhere in a market where other providers are limited to 100Mb, and allows us to provide a competitive advantage to companies locating here, to the direct benefit of Ireland Inc.”