The short version: put the Eircode on the NBI map. If it says Passed, pick a retailer and order — you never buy from NBI. If it says Planned / Coming soon, pre-order, then use Imagine wireless, Three 5G or rolling Starlink until the engineer books. If it says you are outside the intervention area, you are shopping Open Eir, SIRO or Virgin, not this queue.
What the network actually is: NBI explained. How to check the door: check broadband by Eircode.
How far the rollout is (August 2026)
National Broadband Ireland is the wholesale builder for the National Broadband Plan intervention area — rural and hard-to-reach premises commercial operators would not cover on their own. It does not sell you a package. Retailers do.
As of August 2026 NBI has passed more than 500,000 premises, roughly 89% of the intervention area. That is a build statistic, not a “everyone in rural Ireland is on gigabit” statistic. Passed means the fibre is in the locality and the premises can be ordered. Connected means an ONT is already on the wall. Those two numbers are never the same: survey, wayleave and the engineer diary sit in the gap.
| Fact (August 2026) | The number |
|---|---|
| Premises passed | 500,000+ — about 89% of the intervention area |
| What “passed” is | Fibre in the locality; a retailer can take an order. Not the same as connected |
| Who you buy from | 50+ retailers. Never NBI |
| Who does the drop | NBI’s engineer fits the ONT. The retailer supplies the router |
| Typical retail speeds | 500 Mb or 1 Gb+, often symmetrical depending on the shop |
| The leftover premises | Long lanes, delayed surveys, build stages still in flight — the awkward 11% |
A neighbour on fibre is useful gossip. It is not a guarantee that your Eircode is Passed. One-off houses, private avenues and underground ducts are why two doors on the same road can sit in different years of the diary. The map is the source.
How to read the NBI map
Start at nbi.ie/map with the Eircode. Then confirm on a retailer’s checker — they sometimes lag a week — and on the ComReg Broadband Checker, which updates quarterly. Our wider checklist is check broadband by Eircode.
NBI’s own labels and ComReg’s “Available / Planned” language do not always match word for word. Treat the three states below as the decision tree, whatever the tooltip says.
| Map status | What it actually means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Passed | Wholesale fibre can be ordered for that premises. The pole or chamber is live in the locality. You are not connected until the drop and ONT are done | Pick a retailer (Digiweb, Sky, Vodafone, Pure, Imagine…). Place a live order. Book the NBI install. Do not buy Starlink as a forever plan |
| Planned (Coming soon) | A rollout window, not a booked appointment. Dates are indicative and they slip. You cannot provision live fibre this week | Register interest with NBI. Take a retailer pre-order if they offer one. Use a leave-anytime stopgap if you need internet now |
| Pre-order | Not always a map colour — it is the queue you join while Planned. The retailer fires the wholesale order the day the house flips to Passed | Pre-order is a place in line, not a connection week. Keep a rolling 5G or Starlink until the engineer can actually book |
| Connected | An ONT is already on the premises — you, or a previous occupier | Order a retailer on the existing drop. Usually no new dig. Switching later is a ComReg hop, not a second fibre |
| Not in the intervention area | Commercial networks are supposed to serve you. NBI will not build here | Look at Open Eir, SIRO or Virgin — not this map. If those are empty, you are in 5G / Starlink territory |
Passed is not connected. A “fibre is here” leaflet still needs a retailer order and an NBI appointment. Planned is not a promise. Signing 24 months of wireless because the map said autumn is how people miss the pole and pay an early-termination fee the week the engineer is free.
Pre-order vs order
These are different products. Mixing them up is how a household thinks they have “ordered fibre” when they have only joined a waiting list.
| Pre-order | Order (live) | |
|---|---|---|
| When the map says | Planned / Coming soon | Passed (and the retailer’s checker agrees) |
| What it is | A place in the wholesale queue. Some retailers take it so they can fire the NBI order the morning status flips | A real contract: survey, appointment, ONT, router, 12-month term, 14-day cooling-off |
| Does it start the fibre term? | No. You are not on NBI yet | Yes, once the service is accepted / installed. Cooling-off still applies on a distance sale |
| Does it lock a calendar week? | No. Surveys, wayleaves and busy patches still sit after Passed | You get an appointment. The wait for the slot is the slow bit |
| What to run in parallel | Imagine, Three 5G or Starlink — contracts you can leave | Keep the stopgap live until the ONT works, then cancel it. Do not cease the old line first |
Two things are worth doing the day the map moves you to Coming soon: register the premises on NBI’s own interest list, and ask a retailer whether they will take a pre-order. Digiweb, Sky, Vodafone, Pure Telecom and Imagine are the names rural searches actually hit. Eir does not retail NBI. Compare the live bill later — same glass, different contract — on NBI explained and the best broadband ranking.
Install once Passed
The brand you pay is not the crew that pulls the glass. NBI’s engineer does the drop. The retailer activates the service and posts or delivers the router.
- Confirm Passed on the NBI map, then on the retailer’s checker. ComReg can lag a quarter; the network’s own map is the first opinion.
- Order from a retailer — not from NBI. You must be the account holder. 14-day cooling-off still applies on a website or phone sale.
- Wholesale order and survey. NBI looks at the pole or chamber, the length of the drop, and whether a long private lane needs a wayleave.
- Appointment. An NBI engineer runs fibre to the house — usually aerial from the nearest pole, sometimes underground. Typical visit is a few hours; the diary wait is the delay.
- ONT. A small optical box is fitted. That box is NBI’s. Do not bin it if you switch retailer later.
- Router. Plug the retailer’s router into the ONT. Then cancel the 5G or Starlink stopgap — not before.
If you already have Imagine, Three or Starlink, tell the new retailer you want a new connection (or a switch from that stopgap) and keep the old service up until the ONT is live. ComReg’s gaining-provider-led process is for a like-for-like switch at the same address; a first-time NBI drop is an install appointment, not a same-day hop. Process: how to switch broadband.
What to do while you wait
Planned, or Passed-but-not-connected, is a different product problem. You need something that works this week and that you can leave when NBI’s engineer is booked. None of these beat NBI fibre on upload, latency or evening consistency. Use them as a bridge.
| Stopgap | When it is honest | Contract trap |
|---|---|---|
| Imagine wireless / 5G | Rural mast already covers the house; you want leave-anytime rather than a 24-month mobile promo | 5G plans we track are leave-anytime; there can still be a one-off wrap-up. Do not treat wireless as equal to NBI 500 once the pole is live |
| Three 5G home | You need internet this afternoon, a plug-in router, no engineer. Walk the house on a Three 5G phone first | The €25 / 24-month promo is cheap until NBI books in month six. Prefer 12 months if the map is close. ETF is remaining months × monthly |
| Starlink | No mast, no wireless, and you can see the sky. Rolling monthly from €35. Cancel when the ONT is booked | Dearer than NBI 500 once the drop is in. Confirm kit (included vs deposit) at checkout. Trees and courtyards still block the dish |
| Sit tight on copper | Only if the NBI date is days or a couple of weeks away and the current line is barely tolerable | Waiting months on FTTC uploads to “save” a 5G bill is usually the expensive option for anyone who WFH |
The comparison that actually matters in a one-off house is fibre that exists vs a mast vs a dish vs waiting — not Digiweb vs Virgin. Full rural order: best rural broadband in Ireland. Dish vs pole, specifically: Starlink vs NBI.
What not to do
- Do not sign 24 months of 5G because fibre is “coming”. Planned dates slip. The ETF on a cheap promo can dwarf a few months of overlap. See early termination fees.
- Do not buy Starlink as a forever plan on a Passed Eircode. Order the retailer, book the drop, cancel the dish when the ONT works.
- Do not order Eir for NBI fibre. Eir retails Open Eir, not the intervention network. If the map says intervention area, you are shopping Digiweb, Sky, Vodafone, Pure, Imagine and the rest of the 50+ list.
- Do not cease the old line first. Keep copper, 5G or satellite up until the NBI service is live. A first-time drop is an install, not a same-day switch.
- Do not trust a Facebook date. The Eircode on nbi.ie is the source. Recheck when the window approaches; ComReg’s checker can lag a live pass by weeks.
Next
- NBI explained — wholesale rural FTTH; you never buy from NBI.
- Check broadband by Eircode — ComReg, NBI map, SIRO, Virgin, Open Eir.
- Best rural broadband in Ireland — fibre first, then wireless, 5G, Starlink last.
- Starlink vs NBI — while you wait, and after the pole lands.
- How to switch broadband — once the ONT is in, changing retailer is an ordinary ComReg hop.
