Making Ireland proud: Delivering the National Broadband Plan on budget and on schedule

eolas Magazine sits down with T.J Malone, CEO of NBI Deployment, responsible for building Ireland’s new national fibre network.

In January 2020, National Broadband Ireland became the winning bidder to deliver the Irish Government’s National Broadband Plan. Widely recognised as one of the most ambitious and complex telecom infrastructure rollouts in the world, Ireland’s NBP is the biggest investment in rural Ireland since electrification.

In this special infrastructure and construction report, eolas Magazine meets with T.J Malone, the head of NBI’s build company – NBI Deployment – to discuss the company’s progress on this vast megaproject.

Can you tell us a bit about your background that led you to NBI and what your current role heading up the build of the National Broadband Plan entails?

For over 25 years now, I have been leading the design, procurement, and construction of some of the largest fibre network deployments in the world, which has taken me to North America, the Caribbean, the UK, and of course large projects here at home in Ireland.

Constructing any largescale infrastructure comes with a certain amount of pressure and in some cases, I have headed up workforces of up to 3,500 people. I guess you could say I cut my teeth working on numerous ambitious builds before joining the team here at National Broadband Ireland to take on what is arguably one of the most interesting and transformational network builds in the world right now.

As CEO of NBI Deployment, I have built the team responsible for surveying, designing, and building the network for the National Broadband Plan, which will ultimately serve over 1.1 million people across every county in the country. It is a vast project, spanning over 96 per cent of the country’s land mass, using enough cable to circle the world four times over. As you can imagine, it is also an extremely complex network build, working across all kinds of terrain in some of the most rural parts of the country – including many offshore islands.

You are now just over four years into the build, how are things going?

We have really hit our stride with the pace and predictably of the rollout, which is testament to the dedicated work of everyone involved in the NBP. That is not just our team, but our partners, everyone in the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, local authorities, and the many associations that we work closely with to expedite our rollout. The size and scale of the NBP has never been seen in Ireland before, which has meant we have had to develop and mobilise a number of significant processes and ways of working, particularly with the support of the local authorities.

After starting work with boots on the ground in January 2020, unsurprisingly the first couple of years were incredibly challenging because of disruptions caused by the pandemic, but we have worked very hard to get through the other side. Today, we have over 80 per cent of the rollout surveyed and passed through our detailed design process, which is vital work. We have around 70 per cent of the entire project completed with construction or currently under construction, which is the final stage. Most importantly, that means over 215,000 premises can place an order to avail of services on the new NBI network.

Furthermore, we have completed the install of 955 broadband connection points (BCPs), which are public facilities where free high-speed internet is now available, and we have connected some 672 schools.

We hear from the Government that NBI is on budget and on schedule, is that right?

That is right. In January, we completed our most recent contractual year and were pleased to report that the project is on budget and on schedule. As someone who lives in a rural community, I know full well that for those people who are still waiting, it cannot come quick enough, but that just shows how broadband has now become a vital utility that we all rely on. We are working tirelessly to get the job done as quickly as possible and no one will be left behind.

“Today, we have over 80 per cent of the rollout surveyed and passed through our detailed design process, which is vital work. We have around 70 per cent of the entire project completed with construction or currently under construction, which is the final stage.”

Demand for the network is evident. We are seeing take-up rates above 50 per cent in areas where the network has been live for more than 18 months, which is significantly ahead of our original projections and all other international comparisons. This is testament to the Government’s leadership on the NBP and their policy to provide high speed broadband to 100 per cent of the population, no matter how rural or remote someone may live or work.

How do you view the importance of the NBP in relation to other major infrastructure projects?

It is incredibly rewarding to know that we are responsible for reshaping Ireland’s infrastructure and empowering current and future generations with high-speed connectivity. It really is transformational for people’s lives.

This is a project that will not just make people’s everyday lives easier, but it will enable a huge array of technological advances across education, healthcare, agriculture, and other key sectors.

The National Broadband Plan will ultimately make Ireland the first country in Europe to provide high speed fibre broadband to 100 per cent of the country, and I believe we are creating the blueprint that other nations will want to follow.

Visit www.nbi.ie to find out more and register to receive updates on the rollout specific to your Eircode.