92% of Irish Businesses Are Using AI Tools. Most Have Not Checked If Their Broadband Can Run Them.
A survey for the Small Firms Association published in August 2026 found that 92% of Irish small businesses are now using generic AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.
Only 30% are using anything tailored to their business. And almost none have reviewed whether their broadband connection is adequate for the AI tools their teams are running every day.
The AI tools have arrived. The broadband conversation has not kept up.
The shift has been faster than most Irish business owners expected.
Twelve months ago, AI tools were something a handful of staff were experimenting with in their own time. Today, according to PwC's 2026 research, 43% of Irish workers have engaged with AI in the past year and 67% report increased productivity as a result. Microsoft Copilot is now embedded in the Microsoft 365 licences most Irish businesses already pay for. ChatGPT is open in browser tabs across offices in every county in Ireland.
But the broadband connection those tools are running on was ordered before any of them existed.
That mismatch, between the AI tools Irish businesses are now running and the broadband connections they are running them on, is the single most overlooked productivity problem in Irish business in 2026.
What AI Tools Are Actually Doing to Your Broadband in 2026
The broadband demand from AI tools is fundamentally different from anything that came before it. Email, web browsing and even video calls are primarily download-heavy activities. AI tools are different.
When you use Microsoft Copilot to summarise a document, analyse a spreadsheet or draft an email, data is being sent upstream to the AI model and returned. When your team runs ChatGPT queries throughout the day, each one generates upstream traffic. When AI agents, the next wave of AI adoption already arriving in Irish businesses, run continuously in the background, they require a persistent, stable, low-latency connection at all times.
The result is that AI tools put pressure on broadband in the direction most Irish business connections are weakest: upload speed and reliability.
The upload problem:
Most Irish business broadband connections are asymmetric, fast download, slow upload. This was adequate when businesses were primarily consuming content from the internet. AI tools reverse that equation. They generate as much upstream traffic as downstream. A slow upload speed creates a bottleneck in exactly the place AI tools need it least.
Full fibre broadband delivers symmetrical speeds. Upload as fast as download. This is what AI tools need to run without friction.
The AI Tools Your Irish Business Is Already Running And What They Need
Here is the broadband requirement for the AI tools most commonly used by Irish businesses in 2026:
AI Tools | Min Download | Min Upload | Why It Matters |
Microsoft Copilot | 25Mb+ | 25Mb+ | Processes documents, emails and meeting content upstream. Asymmetric connections create lag and timeout errors during document analysis. |
ChatGPT / Claude | 10Mb+ | 10Mb+ | Query and response traffic is symmetric. Shared connections during busy periods cause response delays and context loss. |
Microsoft Teams AI | 50Mb+ | 50Mb+ | Combines video, audio, transcription and AI analysis simultaneously. Most demanding AI tool in terms of bandwidth. |
Google Gemini | 10Mb+ | 10Mb+ | Similar to ChatGPT. Degrades on slow or shared connections during peak office hours. |
AI Agents (background) | 25Mb+ dedicated | 25Mb+ dedicated | Run continuously. Require a stable, always-on connection. Intermittent broadband causes agents to lose context and fail tasks. |
Canva AI / Midjourney | 50Mb+ | 20Mb+ | Image generation requires significant data transfer. Slow connections cause generation timeouts and failed uploads. |
The common thread across every AI tool in the table above is consistency. AI tools do not just need fast broadband at peak moments. They need reliable, stable broadband throughout the working day, and increasingly, throughout the night as AI agents run automated workflows outside of business hours.
The 2026 Irish AI Adoption Gap And Why Broadband Is at the Centre of It
PwC's 2026 research highlights a striking gap in Irish AI adoption. While 53% of Irish businesses report clear productivity gains from AI, only 38% report real cost reductions, significantly behind their US counterparts.
One of the most commonly cited barriers is integration constraints, and connectivity is the foundation of every AI integration. An AI tool that times out because of a slow upload, loses context because of an intermittent connection or fails to complete a task because the broadband dropped is not delivering productivity. It is delivering frustration.
The Irish businesses pulling ahead with AI in 2026 are not just buying the right tools.
They are running them on the right connection. Fast, reliable, symmetrical broadband is the infrastructure that makes AI tools work as advertised.
Is Your Irish Business Broadband AI-Ready? Three Questions to Ask
1. What are your upload speeds?
Check your current upload speed. Run the test during your busiest working hours ,not at 6am on a Sunday. If your upload speed is below 25 megabits per second, your AI tools are running under capacity. If it is below 10, they are likely causing friction for your team every day.
2. How many people are using AI tools simultaneously?
Each person using an AI tool simultaneously adds to your broadband demand. A team of 10 people running Copilot at the same time on a shared connection is a very different challenge from one person running it occasionally. Most Irish businesses have never assessed their broadband capacity against the number of simultaneous AI users they now have.
3. When did you last review your broadband connection?
If your broadband was ordered more than 18 months ago, it was almost certainly ordered before AI tools became part of your team's daily workflow. The connection that was adequate for email and web browsing in 2024 may not be adequate for Copilot, ChatGPT and AI agents in 2026. The tools have changed faster than the broadband contracts.
What AI-Ready Broadband Looks Like for Irish Businesses
The good news is that the broadband infrastructure AI tools need is now available to the vast majority of Irish businesses.
NBI Fibre Broadband
The National Broadband Plan has completed its main rollout across 13 Irish counties, with the remainder completing by end of 2026. NBI delivers fibre-to-the-premises broadband with standard packages starting from 500Mb and 1Gb options available, exactly what AI tools need. Fastcom is an approved NBI retail partner.
SIRO Full Fibre Broadband
SIRO's 100% fibre-to-the-building network covers more than 590,000 Irish premises including business and retail parks. SIRO LightPulse and SIRO Lightburst Dedicated Fibre deliver symmetrical speeds with a business SLA. Fastcom is an official SIRO retail service provider.
Dedicated Wireless Broadband
For businesses where fibre is not yet available or where installation timelines are too long, Fastcom's dedicated wireless broadband delivers speeds up to 1Gb over a dedicated circuit. Not shared, not mobile data, a business-grade connection that supports AI tool usage at the same level as fibre.
Frequently Asked Questions
Broadband for AI Tools in Ireland
What broadband speed do I need for Microsoft Copilot in Ireland?
Microsoft Copilot requires a minimum of 25Mb download and 25Mb upload per user for reliable performance. Because Copilot processes documents, emails and meeting content upstream, upload speed is as important as download speed. A symmetrical fibre broadband connection is the best option for Irish businesses running Copilot across multiple users. Contact Fastcom on +353 818 70 71 71 to check what is available at your address.
What internet speed does ChatGPT need for an Irish business?
ChatGPT requires a minimum of 10Mb download and 10Mb upload per user for reliable performance. On a shared connection with multiple users, speeds of 25Mb or more per user are recommended to avoid response delays and context loss during peak working hours. Full fibre broadband from NBI or SIRO delivers the consistent speeds ChatGPT needs across an entire team simultaneously.
Is my broadband fast enough for AI tools in Ireland?
To check, run a speed test during your busiest working hours. If your upload speed is below 25Mb per active user, your AI tools are likely running under capacity. Most Irish business broadband connections ordered before 2025 are asymmetric, fast download, slow upload, which creates friction for AI tools that generate as much upstream as downstream traffic. Fastcom can review your current connection and recommend the right upgrade.
Why is my Microsoft Copilot slow in the office?
Slow Microsoft Copilot performance in an Irish business office is almost always a broadband upload speed problem. Copilot sends data upstream to Microsoft's AI servers for processing, if your upload connection is slow or shared with many users, Copilot will time out, lag or fail to complete tasks. Upgrading to a symmetrical fibre broadband connection typically resolves Copilot performance issues immediately.
Do AI agents need fast broadband?
Yes. AI agents run continuously in the background, processing tasks and automating workflows around the clock. They require a stable, always-on broadband connection with consistent upload and download speeds. An intermittent or slow connection causes AI agents to lose context, fail tasks and produce errors. For businesses deploying AI agents, a dedicated fibre or dedicated wireless broadband connection is strongly recommended.
What is the best broadband for AI tools for an Irish business?
The best broadband for running AI tools in an Irish business is full fibre broadband, because it delivers symmetrical speeds, low latency and the reliability AI tools need. Where fibre is not yet available, Fastcom's dedicated wireless broadband delivers speeds up to 1Gb on a dedicated circuit. Contact Fastcom on +353 818 70 71 71 or visit fastcom.ie/business-broadband-ireland to find the best option for your address.
Is your Irish business broadband AI-ready?
Fastcom can review your current connection, check what OpenEir , NBI fibre, SIRO fibre or dedicated wireless broadband is available at your address and recommend the right upgrade for the AI tools your team is already running. Irish-based support. No obligation.
Visit fastcom.ie/business-broadband-ireland or call +353 818 70 71 71
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