As part of its fibre-optic broadband rollout, SIRO has confirmed that Sligo will be the first town in Connacht to get the service when it eventually launches.

The rollout of SIRO’s networks has already begun in the county, and once completed it will give those signed up to the ESB and Vodafone Ireland partnership access to a one gigabit connection speed.

Putting this into perspective, SIRO says that its service will allow a 4Gb file to be downloaded in around 30 seconds.

In terms of when the high-speed internet service is expected to be operational in the town, SIRO has said that broadband retailers will begin offering it towards the end of this year.

President of the Sligo Chamber of Commerce, David Kiely, said that the Chamber had been campaigning for such a service for some time now to boost the area’s infrastructure and to encourage new investment in the region.

“Sligo Chamber has been campaigning for some time for enhanced broadband at both a town and county level,” he said. “The introduction of this infrastructure into Sligo is a very significant boost to both existing and future industry and enterprise, which will benefit all of the Sligo community.”

Adding this sentiment, John Reilly, head of the Sligo Local Enterprise Office, said: “The rollout of SIRO in Sligo is particularly welcome news for Sligo businesses.

“It will position Sligo to fully engage in the ICT economy and will offer many businesses an opportunity to truly transform their current business model. They will be able to take full advantage of the internet and increase their turnover and profitability by selling more in the domestic and overseas markets.”