Kilkenny community delivers best in class mobile connectivity

New Three Ireland service for Windgap and surrounding areas providing Ireland’s fastest 5G network

Local community fully backs process with services now live

Cellnex, Ireland’s largest independent telecoms infrastructure provider, and Three, Ireland’s largest mobile telecommunications provider, have worked together to deliver vastly improved connectivity to the people of Windgap and surrounding areas.
The local community in Windgap first highlighted the poor connectivity service in their area at the start of the pandemic, with remote working and learning severely impacted by poor quality mobile voice and broadband options.

Cellnex worked with the local community upon hearing of the need for improved services through the Kilkenny People’s local notes pages in the middle of 2020. They conducted a review of the area, spoke to members of the local community to identify a suitable location for a new mast and applied for planning permission which was backed by the local community.

Once permission was granted and with no objections from the local community, work began on the structure which was completed in early March 2022. Three Ireland will be providing its services from the new mast which will see the residents and businesses of Windgap and the surrounding area benefit from Ireland’s fastest and most consistent 5G network, as verified by OoklaⓇ* based on consumer-initiated tests taken with SpeedtestⓇ.

The service, which has already gone live, will mean Three Ireland customers will not only benefit from enhanced mobile connectivity, but also from Three’s broadband service which can deliver speeds of up to 800mbps. This service will help a range of local businesses in the area, including the many equine businesses and the local Glanbia co-op. Improved mobile connectivity will also benefit local sports clubs, including Windgap GAA, the local community centre and the national school.

Colin Cunningham, Cellnex Ireland Managing Director, said:
“It has been a privilege to work with the people of Windgap to deliver a solution they badly needed. Community involvement in solving rural connectivity issues is vital, and the actions of the people in Windgap raising awareness of the issue serve as a great template for any community around Ireland which needs better connectivity. Cellnex created a platform called Get Connected.ie which allows communities to request a review of mobile services in their area, and I would encourage any community which would like to replicate Windgap’s results to get in touch with us.”

David Hennessy, Chief Technology Officer at Three Ireland and Three UK, said:
“At a time where mobile connectivity remains extremely important, we are delighted to work with the community in Windgap to bring them Ireland’s fastest mobile network, as well our award winning 5G network. Three Ireland has always been committed to delivering the best experience to our customers across Ireland. We believe in helping to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban Ireland, turning on new 5G sites in new communities, town and villages every week as part of our annual network investment of over €100 million.”

For further information, please contact:
Cellnex Ireland: Andrew Smith, Murray, +353 83 076 5717, asmith@murraygroup.ie

About Cellnex Ireland
The business launched in 2015 with the acquisition of 300 sites from Irish state forestry company Coillte, and through further acquisitions and investment now has as portfolio of over 1,800 sites. Cellnex specialises in maximising the efficient use of tower infrastructure through hosting the equipment of multiple operators on its sites, thereby reducing costs for users and reducing the proliferation of unnecessary towers. www.cellnex.ie

About Cellnex Telecom
Cellnex Telecom is Europe’s leading operator of wireless telecommunications infrastructures with a portfolio of 130,000 sites including forecast roll-outs up to 2030. Cellnex operates in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Portugal. Cellnex’s business is structured in four major areas: telecommunications infrastructure services; audiovisual broadcasting networks, mission and business critical networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and ser-vices management (Smart cities e the “Internet of Things” (IoT)).

The company is listed on the Spanish stock exchange and is part of the se-lective IBEX 35 and EuroStoxx 100 indices. It is also part of the FTSE4GOOD, CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), MSCI, Sustainalytics and “Standard Ethics” sustainability indexes. For more information, visit www.cellnextelecom.com

About Three Ireland
Three is Ireland’s largest mobile telecommunications provider with 39% market share and almost 2.9 million customers (as of September 2021). Three operates 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks and has invested nearly €2 billion in Ireland to date. Three’s 5G network is available to customers in every county. Based in Dublin and Limerick, Three sponsors the 3Arena and 3Olympia music venues in Dublin.

About CK Hutchison Holdings Limited
Three is 100% owned by CK Hutchison Holdings Limited (CK Hutchison), a renowned multinational conglomerate committed to innovation and technology. Its diverse businesses employ over 300,000 people in over 50 countries across the world. CK Hutchison has five core businesses – ports and related services, retail, infrastructure, energy and telecommunications.

*Based on analysis by Ookla® of Speedtest Intelligence® data for Q3–Q4 2021.