LAST UPDATE | 24 Jan

ROUGHLY 160,000 EIR CUSTOMERS have been left without broadband, the company has said, following a series of outages caused by Storm Éowyn.

The telecoms operator reported 63,000 broadband faults, 26,000 fixed voice faults, as well as about 900 mobile network site outages, which has caused “significant disruption” to broadband across the country.

Eir spokesperson Fergal McCann said that power outages have been the main reason for broadband disruptions, with power supply majorly impacted by the high-speed winds brought along by Éowyn.

“We’ve just started deploying generators in the last hour based on a local assessment… to try and restore service,” McCann told RTÉ Radio One’s News At One.

“Road conditions and and local conditions are still quite challenging, so it’ll be based on assessment of need,” he added.

Eir faults are most significant in counties Cork, Mayo Meath, Clare and Kildare.

In a statement, the company said that the “full extent of the storm’s impact will become clearer in the coming hours and days as power is restored and roadways are cleared”.

The eir spokesperson added: “To keep customers connected, eir is operating 625 Fixed Network sites and 150 Mobile sites on backup power.

“Eir has been in storm mode since the Red warning was confirmed, and once that Red weather warning is lifted, power generators will be deployed to affected sites, and repairs will commence as soon as it is safe.”

Vodafone ‘off air’

Meanwhile, 10 percent of Vodafone’s mobile network sites are off air, the company said this morning.

Much of Vodafone’s network is now relying on battery back-up and generators to remain operational, network director Sheila Kavanagh told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

At least 96,000 of Vodafone’s broadband customers have lost their connection as a result of power outages, Kavanagh said.

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Despite the loss of 10% of the mobile network, Kavanagh said it was “holding up quite well” given the extent of Storm Éowyn and the “unprecedented damage” it has caused.

Kaganagh said field teams will not be dispatched to deal with the storm’s impact on Vodafone’s network until it’s safe to do so, but she said this would happen as quickly as possible. 

Nationwide, there are around 715,000 homes without power due to extensive damage to the electricity network.

 Additional reporting from Andrew Walsh.