Latest News
B4OC – Rural Inspiration Awards 2022
Out of 111 entries across Europe, Piltowns Broadband 4 our Community community broadband project is the only Irish project named as a finalist for...
B4OC: Digital Town Awards Winners!
Piltown. Co. Kilkenny was crowned the overall winner by Minister Damien English, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail at the...
B4OC Gets Media Coverage
Left out in the National Broadband Plan, two villages in Co Kilkenny decided to set up their own FTTP network led by local volunteers. A small rural...
And We’re Live!
After a week of testing and commissioning Piltown now has it’s own fibre broadband network. Customer connections are underway in Ardclone with...
Connected to the Grid
Good news for the people of Piltown. After months of negotiations and planning Piltown is now connected to the national fibre-optic grid. This will...
Unexpected Delays
As part of being an Internet Service Provider B4OC are dependent on a connection to the national grid, which runs parallel to the railway line south...
Up & Away
The more observant of you may have noticed some shiny new telecom poles appearing around the village. Poles were erected by local contractor Richie...
Full Steam Ahead
In recent months, our contractors and volunteers have been hard at work building our network infrastructure and we are delighted to be making...
Remote Working Survey
CoWorking Feasibility Survey A feasibility study to determine the viability of a co-working facility in Piltown is being conducted by Piltown...
Going Underground
First Steps Finally B4OC is up and running with our first bit of underground ducting installed in Kildalton as part of the new footpath recently...
First Delivery of Poles
Delivery of Materials A big day for Piltown as Broadband 4 Our Community receive delivery of their first load of poles. These 8.5m poles will form...
Funding for Community Broadband
Tomar Trust to Help Fund B4OC Broadband 4 Our Community received a much-needed financial boost from Tomar Trust earlier this year. Thanks to the...
Piltown Levels Up
Learning to Splice Learning how to splice fibre, safely run cable and installing the hardware required for fibre-to-the-home was on the menu last...
Phase 1 Notice
Phase 1 of Community Fibre Broadband is coming! We’re bringing low-cost high-speed fibre broadband to your door and we need your help to finalise...
Update Leaflet
As we all know high-speed internet is viewed as a critical commodity just like water, electricity and gas. Since September 2019 there has been huge...
Broadband 4 our Community
The longest journey starts with a single step. After many, many subsequent steps we are delighted to bring some good (great) news to the...
Full Speed Ahead
Full speed ahead. Members of the Better Broadband for Piltown commitee planning the route as they prepare to call to each resident in the community to discuss the network plan house by house.
Planning our Community Fibre Route
Overhead or underground, the fibre must be laid in a complete loop in the most cost-effective and safest manner. Whether running by back garden walls or into neighbouring fields, under eaves or from gable to gable, whichever is the most cost-effective and secure
Expression of Interest Accepted
The BBFP campaign seems to be going from strength-to-strength with the community’s famed ‘people-power’. The door-to-door Expression of Interest survey, which was carried out in October, was accepted by KLP as sufficient to proceed to the next stage of the feasibility study.
Broadband Committee Meet with LEADER
Kilkenny LEADER Partnership acknowledged that €30K was available to the community to complete a feasibility study which will result in a development plan.
Expression of Interest
Following the informative public meeting in the Community Centre on September 23rd, door-to-door canvassing to gather names for an Expression of Interest for community-owned fibre optic broadband is underway across.
Public Meeting Connected With Local Audience
The Better Broadband for Piltown public meeting on September 13th hosted in Piltown Community Centre by a group of local volunteers raised positive interest. An audience made up of a varied cross-section of the community all contributed to the night’s enlightenment by engaging with the group, which included network expert John Graves about the genuine possibility and challenges that lay ahead on such a project.
Kilkenny Leader Roadshow
Kilkenny LEADER Partnership has teamed up with fibre-connection expert John Graves to adivse and support communities in their planning for community-based broadband networks.
Blue Town
Under the Irish governments National Broadband Development Plan Piltown and Fiddown are classed as a Blue zone. This means that the current speed provided on the existing copper lines (up to 7Mb/s) is deemed adequate broadband and will not be upgraded in the next broadband upgrade.