Rural broadband provider Imagine has been forced to serve a cohort of customers with cessation of service notices over the last week with more expected as the company struggles to keep itself afloat.
The company has been under sustained financial pressure over the last 18 months following the rollout of the National Broadband Plan. It is understood that it was having difficulty competing with the State-subsidised project.
Imagine currently serves approximately 47,000 customers across mostly rural Ireland which includes small businesses, community centres and schools.
The company has engaged with the Government in relation to the difficult position it is currently in. However, the understands no solution has been identified with time running out for the struggling broadband provider where 120 jobs are at risk if it is forced to wind up.
When approached for comment about cessation notices, a spokesperson for Imagine said the company continues to face “serious challenges” and has taken a number of steps to maintain connectivity for customers “including a full strategic review of the business and consequent redundancies”.
However, as no solution has been reached, the spokesperson said the company has been left with “no alternative” but to “take a first customer impacting step by switching off our service in six communities across the country”.
“We’re hopeful that with positive engagement with the Government, we can continue to protect the connectivity needs across rural Ireland. If no solution is found, the unfortunate withdrawal of services across rural Ireland communities will accelerate,” the spokesperson said.
The termination of service notices comes as a result of the company having to switch off six base stations in communities — three of which are located in Cork. The understands that approximately 200 customers have already been notified that their service will be cut in the next month or so.
More base stations are expected to be switched off over the coming month, potentially leaving many customers with no alternatives or poorer broadband service, if a solution is not found.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Communications acknowledged that many rural premises in the intervention area of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) will already have “alternative broadband options available to them”.
However, it said the intervention area has been published on the department’s website since 2019 and is “well known to the telecoms industry as the area where the State-subsidised network is being deployed”.
“The National Broadband Ireland (NBI) network is deployed to premises in the intervention area and will provide a significant step in changing broadband performance to what exists today,” the spokesperson said.
The department said the NBI only provides wholesale services and relies on retail partners and as it stands, there are “no plans to amend or change this model”.
The spokesperson added that it would “not be appropriate for the department to comment on any specific operator’s circumstances”.