It was with great interest that I saw a mention of FTTH (Fiber to the Home) and Ireland in the Baller Herbst newsletter. Accordingly to ENN (Report looks to fibre for future broadband), Ireland appears to be making great strides to rolling out Fiber to the Home.

I read this with great interest because I am planning to spend some time in Ireland later this year. (My husband is from Ireland.) This article spurred me to look into my prospective situation a little bit. My concern is how and where I can access broadband while staying with my mother-in-law in suburban Dublin.

The good news: According to Eircom, the Irish telephone company, I will qualify for broadband, which I presume is DSL. I can get 1M, 2M, or 3M service. They also offer a 20 hour per month service (but what would I use for day two?).

The bad news: I found an organization that made me nervous; IrelandOffline was formed by a group of consumers who were cut off from a product called “surf no limits”.

More bad news: I found a list of local hot spots for WiFi – almost none were free.

Mostly I thought I’d share this as a little look into what people in other places (or temporarily displaced people) deal with in terms of broadband. I’ll definitely report more when I’m actually living it!