Shay Walsh

open eir is pleased to announce a five-year partnership with Sky Media Ireland aimed at enhancing Ireland's connectivity through integration of core network infrastructures. Through this partnership, Sky will leverage open eir’s extensive fibre network, to continue its growth across Ireland. This collaboration underscores open eir and Sky's shared commitment to extending high-capacity, future-proof network infrastructure to homes and businesses throughout the country. Together with Sky, we’re taking a significant step toward a more connected Ireland. #ConnectingIreland #Fibre #Partnership https://lnkd.in/emdkK-jd

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Very happy to share the below article featured in Mobile Magazine on our customer-focused technology transformation. Thanks to all the teams in Virgin Media Ireland and Liberty Global who are ensuring the transformation is a big success. A big thanks to all our partners on the journey but particularly Infosys and Prodapt for their pivotal roles and helping tell the story below. #digitaltransformation #customerexperience #scaledagile #operationalexcellence #connectionsthatmatter

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SAVE THE DATE! Delighted to announce 2025 dates for CCT 2025 (The Global Cloud, Content and Telecoms Executive Summit) that will take place next year from the 17-19 June 2025 in Dublin. Now in its 5th successful year, CCT 2025 is positioned in the marketplace as the executive C-level summit for the industry. It provides a unique type of platform for the industry by bringing together executive leaders to have open discussion and dialogue and address the most pressing issues within the cloud, content and telecoms ecosystem. Featuring high quality content through expertly researched and carefully designed panel discussions, CCT 2025 is participative and highly interactive, allowing leaders to exchange ideas, take the time to hear their peers and gain new perspectives, hear contrasting views and different opinions and help leaders to arrive at solutions to shared problems and thus shape future agendas. If you are interested in participating or attending please contact Rachel Jones at [email protected] or visit www.cctevents.net. We look forward to seeing you there. #cloud #content #telecoms #networks #infrastructure #connectivity Lisa Marie Maher

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This week, we launched the Huawei Digital Business Index in collaboration with Amárach Research—a new quarterly report designed to shine a light on the digitalisation trends shaping Irish business. The Huawei Digital Business Index acts as a digital pulse check, capturing insights from 350 business leaders across diverse sectors and sizes. As we close out 2024 and look towards 2025, these findings give a powerful perspective on where Ireland’s digital transformation journey stands. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲: 58.9—an encouraging sign of growth in digital adoption. 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼-𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀: Facing greater challenges, with a lower sentiment score of 43.4, underscoring unique hurdles in digital investment. 𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀: Leading the way with a strong score of 74.4, showing how established players are prioritising digital to drive growth. 💡 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Digital infrastructure is the backbone of economicresilience. As indigenous Irish businesses navigate their own digital journeys, larger companies can play a crucial role in supporting smaller enterprises by offering education, awareness, and resources—think webinars, interactive workshops, and cloud credits to accelerate adoption. Together, let’s make 2025 the year where all Irish businesses, big and small, can thrive in a digitally connected Ireland. #DigitalTransformation #HuaweiDigitalBusinessIndex #Innovation #Ireland #Digitalisation #BusinessInsights

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Hats off to this initiative - A regional-based 5G model in the UK bringing telecom innovation to the local level - why not in Canada? Interesting model for Canada to consider - a focus on the local & regional level for telecom innovation and investment, instead of the same-old single broad-brush to paint all of Canada. The article below highlights an initiative by Belfast City Council, which has secured £3.8 million wireless innovation funding from the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and become one of 10 5G Innovation Regions across the UK. Over £36 million is being invested in regions across the UK, including Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to drive economic growth and innovation in key local sectors by unlocking the opportunities presented by advanced wireless connectivity and digital technologies.  See here for more details on this innovative UK telecom initiative: https://lnkd.in/giTVVQS2 The quotes say it all - per the UK's Minister of Data and Digital Infrastructure, Sir John Whittingdale: “We’re channeling millions into local areas to unlock the potential of cutting-edge 5G wireless and digital technologies which will reshape our public services, drive economic growth and boost innovation. This new fund will give local areas from across the country the opportunity to be at the forefront of the UK’s world-leading 5G revolution. “For instance, by using 5G for farming and creating science parks, we’re not just helping local communities, but also encouraging new ideas all over the UK. This is more than just linking smartphones. It’s about using powerful digital connections to transform various sectors in the economy and the public sector throughout the entire country.” As a counterpoint to this UK approach in fostering grassroots telecom innovation - Canada has consistently taken a highly centralized & top-down model. Canada's top-down / broad brush approach has created economic barriers to telecom investment, with poor end-results on cost & middling results on bridging our chronic rural & First Nations digital divide. Given our poor & middling telecom policy results, why not change things up a bit in Canada? Perhaps it's time for a policy change at Canada's Federal Ministry of ISED and at the CRTC - a subtle change with a shift to a spectrum strategy that optionally allocates some more (not all - just some) spectrum resources to the regional level for distribution & for fostering local / regional tech innovation with municipalities, industry & universities. Given that the municipal & regional level often is able to foster innovation & address service gaps in a more nimble & focused manner - a policy model change worth considering in Canada. #innovation #Canada #ISED #CRTC #telecommunication #policychange #policyalternatives #spectrum #digitaldivide #PSBN #wireless #5G #rural #FirstNations #municipalities #changeisgood

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Telent will be offering Ericsson Enterprise private 5G solutions across the UK and Ireland. As part of Ericsson’s 5-star partner program, Telent aims to support organizations in leveraging the full potential of private 5G networks. Gerard Donohue, Group CTO at Telent, mentioned, “Our collaboration with Ericsson enhances our ability to deliver advanced connectivity solutions. By integrating Ericsson’s private 5G technology with our expertise, we’re offering greater value to our customers.” Ericsson's enterprise wireless solutions provide excellent coverage and reliability, enabling organizations to innovate and grow. Whether it’s Ericsson NetCloud, Cradlepoint routers, or Enterprise 5G solutions, they offer flexible and secure options. Telent has already deployed cellular routers for Fire and Rescue Services across the UK, ensuring reliable communication for emergency response operations. As the PSTN switch-off approaches in 2027, these solutions will be important for replacing PSTN-based backup systems. How do you see private 5G impacting your organization’s operations? Let's chat! #5G #Private5G #Connectivity #Innovation

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A highlight of my recent trip to Ireland was an interview with The Irish Times, setting out the case for why policymakers should embrace and accelerate 5G.   In many ways, Ireland is a role model for progressive approaches to connectivity. The SIRO partnership, a joint venture with energy company ESB, is bringing broadband to under-served parts of Ireland. And Vodafone Ireland is planning to invest €500 million to improve network quality over the coming years.   But across Europe as a whole, it’s clear that 5G is lagging behind. Jobs and investment are at risk unless we modernise our industries through connected technologies like 5G standalone, IoT, AI and cloud.   This is something that politicians should really care about. Because without the urgent policy reforms that are needed to deliver the benefits of true 5G, including the industrial internet, we don’t stand a chance of catching up with other global economies.   Or as I said to The Irish Times, can we “wake up, smell the coffee, move much faster and be serious about this?” https://lnkd.in/egPPdjMC

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Vodafone are now protecting customers and preventing scam calls from fake Irish mobile numbers with new technology called Roamer Check.     With most scam calls being made from abroad and pretending to be from Irish mobile numbers, this technology allows us to check if a call is genuinely from a roaming Irish customer.   Simply put, if a call from an Irish mobile number is made from outside Ireland, it will be checked. If it is not a roaming call, it will be blocked 🚫.   #NuisanceCalls #TogetherWeCan #ProtectingCustomers

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Ireland has been a key centre of R&D for Ericsson since the first factory opened in Athlone, 1974, celebrating its 50th anniversary this week! 🎉 50 years on, that 250-strong factory has grown into a software development hub which now employs over 1,300 people! That makes it one of the largest R&D centres in Ireland. Ericsson celebrated the milestone with great fanfare, featuring the CEO and top executives, government and industry representatives, and 1400 employees marking the milestone together. To make the occasion even more special, Ericsson announced new partnerships with Enterprise Ireland and the Technical University of the Shannon (TUS). This new partnership is focused on managing mobile networks. They’ll be using digital twins, AI, and machine learning to create a virtual copy of the network. This way, they can experiment, tweak, and develop groundbreaking solutions without having to test on the real network. How do you think this new partnership between Ericsson, the Irish government and industry players has the potential to drive Ireland’s digital transformation and boost innovation across multiple sectors? 🔗 Ericsson's Athlone R&D center celebrates 50th anniversary #TeamEricsson #Athlone #R&D #MobileNetworks #DigitalTwins #AI #MachineLearning

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Dublin, 23 December 2024: BT Group Plc and Equinix today announced that Equinix has agreed to acquire BT’s datacentre business in Ireland, which includes two datacentres in CityWest and Ballycoolin, Dublin. The EUR59 million transaction is expected to complete during the first half of 2025, subject to competition and regulatory clearance. The transaction follows a review of assets in Ireland and includes two optimally located, well-invested, and carrier-neutral facilities of approximately 150,000 gross square feet combined, a highly experienced team, and global as well as Irish customers. BT’s asset-light strategy internationally includes a transition away from owning and operating datacentre facilities, towards partnering with globally scaled organisations. This asset-light strategy and partnership approach for datacentre services gives BT a much more commercially scalable and flexible model that delivers multiple benefits to customers with services available in over 560 locations worldwide. #bt #btgroup #equinix #ireland #datacentre

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This week eir published its first ever Economic and Social Impact Report which highlights eir's role in supporting a digitally inclusive Ireland. The ESI report, conducted by Professor Anthony Foley, highlights that eir has invested almost €1.7 billion in telecommunications infrastructure in the last six years. This investment is playing a key role in enabling Ireland to become one of the most digitally connected countries in Europe. In addition, eir has today announced a further €500 million of capital investment by the company to expand its fibre network across Ireland, reinforcing its commitment to enhancing nationwide connectivity and supporting the Government's ambition of achieving universal Gigabit fibre coverage. Today's investment announcement will strongly support the achievement of eir's 1.9 million premises Gigabit fibre ambition, and underlines eir's commitment to ensuring the nation's telecoms infrastructure develops to be best in class in Europe. #proud #eirforall #connectingireland

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University College Dublin is taking the lead on the European #6G-Ensure project under the leadership of Madhusanka Liyanage, focussing on creating #security and #privacy-preserving features for future networks. From a national security perspective this is important, but there is also a wider issue that the digital world has to face: especially with the development of convincing #deepfakes, the spread of #bots, #catfishing, #spearphishing and more, there's a deep distrust of much of the internet these days. Just check out 'dead internet theory' for an extreme version. The point is mainly that people are getting disillusioned by interactions which aren't what they purport to be, and this means that there's a real market for helping with not just security, but for methods or companies who can bring back authenticity to online dealings as well. If the past 20 years has seen the rise of an #attention #economy, the next 20 might be all about an authenticity economy where #authentication, #validation and #trust are the underlying elements.

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On Monday, Mario Draghi presented a crucial report on EU competitiveness, highlighting urgent issues in technology and connectivity with significant implications for Ireland. Building on previous reports, Draghi emphasised the telecom sector’s insufficient scale, outdated competition policies, poor spectrum management, and digital ecosystem imbalances, all contributing to Europe’s lagging global performance. We are accustomed to Ireland ranking exceptionally highly on international competitiveness overall, often second or third in the world, but that is not matched by our digital competitiveness where we rank only 21st. As the next College of Commissioners is appointed and the Dáil resumes, these reports open the door for vital discussions on Europe’s competitiveness and the future of telecommunications. Vodafone has long advocated that Europe’s and Ireland’s economic success hinges on next-generation connectivity. Ireland’s Enterprise White Paper focuses on digitalisation and decarbonisation, both reliant on robust connectivity. But the fundamental challenge of balancing ever-increasing regulation with the investment in connectivity that will be required to improve our competitiveness remains. Getting this right means building the world’s best connectivity in the EU, delivering the service and innovation citizens and businesses deserve. For Ireland, it’s about thriving in the digital age and strengthening our position in a competitive Europe. The message is clear: urgent action is required and we look forward to working with policy makers here to ensure Ireland is best positioned to compete. https://lnkd.in/eq8WvRiJ

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What gets measured gets managed.

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Vodafone has reaffirmed its commitment to providing 5G Standalone (5G SA) to Northern Ireland, as a result of its proposed merger with Three UK. Northern Ireland stands to gain billions in productivity benefits from 5G Standalone (5G SA). The roll out of the latest version of 5G technology (5G SA), would mean communities across Northern Ireland – including those in rural locations – could take advantage of the most up-to-date technology in areas spanning Healthcare, Manufacturing, Education and Agriculture. The Proposed merger could also commit to exceeding the UK Government’s Shared Rural Network 4G coverage targets, and extend 5G into rural Northern Ireland communities. Vodafone’s existing 4G network is a lifeline for many of Northern Ireland’s rural communities, while 5G is already available in a number of locations across the country. https://lnkd.in/dSGGqVzK

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As we wrap up 2024, one trend stands out: businesses are no longer seeing technology as just a cost centre. Smart companies are using it as a competitive advantage, particularly those managing multiple locations. Through our ROCSOLID platform, powered by Cisco, we're proud to have helped organisations across Ireland transform their approach to multi-site technology this year. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! #BusinessTechnology #CiscoPartner #2024Insights #DigitalTransformation

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