Cite this: As of August 2026, SIRO and Open Eir are wholesale networks, not shops. You cannot buy a household plan from SIRO or Open Eir. Vodafone, Sky, Pure Telecom and Digiweb sell both. Eir retail is Open Eir only — it does not sell SIRO. SIRO is 100% FTTH on ESB poles, often symmetrical, in towns. Open Eir is the widest wired footprint, a mix of FTTH and FTTC.
You cannot buy from SIRO or Open Eir
Irish broadband ads sell a retail contract on a wholesale network. SIRO builds full fibre on electricity poles and sells access to about 19 authorised retailers. Open Eir is Eir’s wholesale arm: ducts, poles, cabinets, fibre and leftover copper. Neither takes a household order.
That is why Sky, Vodafone, Pure Telecom and Digiweb can quote different monthly prices for what is, at many Eircodes, the same physical line. Switching retailer on one network does not lay new glass. It changes who bills you, which router arrives, and what happens after month twelve.
Two facts that clear most confusion:
- You cannot buy from SIRO or Open Eir. You pick a retailer. Deeper dive: SIRO explained.
- Eir is Open Eir, not SIRO. If the checker says SIRO, Eir retail is the wrong shop.
SIRO vs Open Eir, side by side
Speeds below are advertised retail ceilings as of August 2026, not lab measurements. Real throughput still depends on the product at the door (FTTH vs FTTC), Wi-Fi, and the evening peak.
| SIRO | Open Eir | |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | 154 towns; ~770,000 premises target. Towns and many suburban estates — not most of rural Ireland | Widest wired footprint in the State. The default commercial network nationwide |
| Technology | 100% FTTH on ESB electricity poles. No copper last mile | FTTH where upgraded; FTTC (fibre to the cabinet, copper to the door) still common. Sold as “fibre” either way |
| Upload | Often symmetrical (500/500, 1000/1000) depending on the retailer | FTTH: often 100 Mb up on 500 Mb / 1 Gb retail plans (Sky); FTTC much weaker. Not the SIRO symmetrical pitch by default |
| Who sells it | Vodafone, Sky, Pure Telecom, Digiweb, Imagine and ~15 others. Not SIRO. Not Eir retail | Eir, Sky, Vodafone, Pure Telecom, Digiweb and others — same line, different bills. Not Open Eir itself |
| Max speed | Up to 5 Gb advertised; 500 Mb / 1 Gb / 2 Gb common | FTTH up to 5 Gb advertised; FTTC typically ~100 Mb |
| Landline? | No | Not on FTTH. FTTC / copper packages sometimes still bundle a phone line |
Start with the address, not the brand: check broadband by Eircode. If the quote says “fibre”, confirm whether that means FTTH, FTTC or cable.
SIRO: ESB poles, 100% FTTH, towns
SIRO is a 50/50 joint venture of Vodafone Group and ESB. The fibre rides electricity poles. The pitch is town and suburban FTTH, often with symmetrical upload where the poles reach. Advertised retail tiers run through 2 Gb and, at some addresses, 5 Gb. It is not a rural rollout; most one-off houses will never see a SIRO drop. That job is NBI.
Install is typically a SIRO engineer and an ONT on the wall, then the retailer’s router. You are picking the contract and the phone queue, not a different strand of glass. New housing developments get OpenPort from mid-2026 — fibre built into the estate as it goes up. You still cannot buy from SIRO; a retailer sells the service on that OpenPort line.
A “Vodafone fibre” order is not automatically SIRO. Vodafone co-owns the network, which is why we call it our Best SIRO pick — not because it is the only shop on the pole. The availability checker says which wholesale product the address is on. Full explainer: SIRO explained.
Open Eir: nationwide, mix of FTTH and FTTC
Open Eir is Eir’s wholesale network — the ducts, poles, cabinets and fibre (and leftover copper) that still reach more Irish doors than anyone else. Eir retail is the incumbent shop on that network, not a synonym for the network. Eir, Sky, Vodafone, Pure Telecom and Digiweb all sell it.
The trap is the word “fibre”. Open Eir FTTH is fibre to the home — advertised 500 Mb, 1 Gb and 5 Gb where the upgrade has landed. Open Eir FTTC is fibre to the green cabinet and copper to the door, typically around 100 Mb, still sold as broadband. If the Eircode is FTTC-only, do not pay an FTTH price for it, and do not compare it to SIRO as if it were the same product.
That is the whole Open Eir shopping rule: same line, different bill. Sky’s 500 Mb intro is regularly cheaper than Eir’s. Pure is the independent to price when you care about year two and a built-in April hike. Vodafone will sell Open Eir where SIRO never arrived. None of them are laying a private cable for you.
Who sells what
Four retailers we score sit on both networks. Eir sits on Open Eir only. Virgin sits on neither — it runs its own cable.
| Retailer | SIRO? | Open Eir? | Notes (August 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vodafone | Yes — our Best SIRO pick | Yes | 500 Mb and 1 Gb often the same €40. Co-owns SIRO with ESB. Checker names the wholesale product. |
| Sky | Yes | Yes | Often the cheapest 500 Mb intro (€27.99 → €50). Upload on 500/1 Gb ads is 100 Mb, even on SIRO. |
| Pure Telecom | Yes | Yes | Irish independent. Often no built-in April hike. Thereafter steps up; it does not double. |
| Digiweb | Yes | Yes (FTTH) | Regional-town SIRO gigabit specialist. Also the NBI name rural searches hit first. |
| Eir | No | Yes — Open Eir only | Incumbent shop on its own wholesale network. Widest coverage. Watch thereafter and the April rise. |
Which to pick when both reach you
If the checker says SIRO and Open Eir FTTH, prefer SIRO when upload and evening consistency matter — especially if a retailer is selling a symmetrical 500/500 or 1 Gb/1 Gb. Prefer Open Eir FTTH when SIRO has not passed the door, or when Sky’s 500 Mb intro is the job and 100 Mb up is enough.
If the checker says SIRO and Open Eir FTTC, take SIRO. FTTC is not the same product. If only Open Eir FTTC is there, you are shopping a ~100 Mb copper last mile — or waiting on an Open Eir upgrade, NBI (rural), Virgin (if the street is theirs), or a 5G / satellite bridge.
When the glass is the same wholesale line, pick the fairest 24-month contract — often Sky on intro, Pure on year-two behaviour, Vodafone when SIRO prices 500 Mb and 1 Gb the same. The four-network map is Open Eir vs SIRO vs NBI vs Virgin.
