What HEAnet Limited does

HEAnet Limited (HEAnet CLG) is Ireland's designated National Research and Education Network (NREN), incorporated in November 1997 as a Company Limited by Guarantee and operating as a not-for-profit entity owned and funded by the Irish education sector. Headquartered at North Dock 2, North Wall Quay, Dublin, the organization delivers high-speed internet connectivity and a portfolio of ICT shared services to over 1.5 million students, researchers, and staff across all 4,000 Irish schools, universities, institutes of technology, Education and Training Boards, and research institutions.

The core technology stack is a national IP backbone (AS1213) carrying traffic for the entire publicly-funded education sector, with a portfolio that spans connectivity (IP connectivity, eduroam Wi-Fi roaming across 700+ Irish hotspots and 100+ countries, point-to-point links, hosted RADIUS), identity and access (Edugate federated single sign-on, SAML identity provider), hosting (FileSender large-file transfer, media hosting, website hosting, self-service DNS Zone Manager), and security (SOC & SIEM, CERT, Client Netflow Portal for traffic anomaly and botnet detection, gatekeeper IP blocking, ISO 27001-certified security consultancy). HEAnet is Ireland's on-ramp to the GÉANT pan-European research backbone and is a participant in the eduroam global roaming federation.

The business model combines exchequer and sector funding with a Brokerage Services unit that runs aggregated ICT procurement frameworks (delivering approximately €7.34 million in annual sector savings) and a Student and Staff Discount Store that distributes discounted technology through vendor partnerships. Go-to-market is government-mandated and contract-driven rather than sales-driven: the entity serves its sector by designation rather than by winning deals. As of 31 December 2025, HEAnet merged with its subsidiary EduCampus (a provider of student information systems serving 140,000+ students and 20,000 staff) to form Asiera, unifying connectivity and administrative ICT under one sector-owned organisation.

Name

HEAnet Limited

Legal name

HEAnet CLG

Website

https://heanet.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HEAnet is Ireland's National Research and Education Network, delivering high-speed internet connectivity and ICT shared services to over 1.5 million students, researchers, and staff across the country's schools, universities, and research institutions; it merged with EduCampus on 31 December 2025 to form Asiera.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

National Research and Education Network (NREN) Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

akta.pro primary industry

Network Backbone & Core IP Transport (Long-Haul/Metro IP) (HDAIAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Carrier & Public Venue Wi‑Fi (Hotspot/Passpoint/NGH) (HDAFACAI), Virtualized Security & SASE for Telco Networks (vFW, vDDoS, vSEC, Secure Edge) (HDAIAIAK)

Keywords

• National research network
• Education connectivity services
• ICT shared services
• Federated identity management
• Cybersecurity for education

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Government/Funder Revenue: HEAnet is a not-for-profit entity owned and funded by the education sector, receiving core funding from government sources to deliver national education network infrastructure and ICT services.
2. Brokerage Services: Aggregated ICT procurement agreements and framework contracts that deliver cost savings and procurement efficiency to education sector clients, generating approximately €7.34 million in annual sector savings.
3. Student and Staff Discount Store: Sector-specific pricing arrangements with technology vendors enabling students and staff to access discounted laptops, desktops, software, and accessories.
4. ICT Shared Services: Connectivity, hosting, identity, security, and research services provided to educational institutions at sector-wide rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

HEAnet is Ireland's National Research and Education Network (NREN), providing high-speed internet connectivity and a portfolio of ICT shared services to universities, institutes of technology, colleges, Education and Training Boards, and all 4,000+ schools in Ireland. Its offering centres on network connectivity (eduroam Wi-Fi roaming, IP transit, point-to-point links), identity services (Edugate federated SSO, SAML IdP), cybersecurity (SOC & SIEM, CERT, Client Netflow Portal, Gatekeeper IP blocking), hosting (FileSender, Media Hosting, Website Hosting, DNS Zone Manager), and aggregated procurement through Brokerage Services that deliver approximately €7.34 million in annual sector savings.

Product overview

HEAnet is Ireland's National Research & Education Network, delivering high-speed internet connectivity and ICT shared services to all levels of the Irish education sector, serving over 1.5 million students, researchers, and staff. As of December 31, 2025, HEAnet merged with EduCampus to form Asiera. The product portfolio centres on connectivity (eduroam Wi-Fi roaming, IP Connectivity, Point-to-Point Links, Hosted RADIUS), identity management (Edugate federated SSO, SAML Identity Provider), hosting (FileSender, Media Hosting, Website Hosting, DNS Zone Manager), and security services (SOC & SIEM, CERT, Client Netflow Portal, Security Consultancy, Gatekeeper IP Blocking). Additional services include Research Engagement, Schools Network, Brokerage Services for ICT procurement, and the Student/Staff Discount Store. These services work together as a unified national education network infrastructure enabling digital access across Ireland's educational institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• eduroam: Global Wi-Fi roaming service for the academic community, enabling students, researchers and staff to securely access internet at participating institutions worldwide.

Products and services

• eduroam Wi-Fi Roaming Global Wi-Fi roaming service enabling students, researchers, and staff from participating institutions to securely access the internet at their campus and at other participating locations worldwide; operated in Ireland across 700+ hotspots including universities, institutes of technology, libraries, and public venues.
• IP Connectivity High-speed IP connectivity providing internet access and transit for educational institutions across Ireland's research and education network, delivered over a 100Gb national backbone.
• Edugate Federated Single Sign-On National federated identity and single sign-on service enabling users to access multiple educational resources and services with a single authentication across Irish higher education and research institutions.
• SAML Identity Provider Services SAML-based identity provider services enabling federated authentication for single sign-on access to cloud services and educational platforms.
• SOC & SIEM Services Security Operations Center and Security Information and Event Management services providing continuous monitoring, threat detection, and incident response for client education networks.
• Client Netflow Portal SaaS application providing network traffic analysis with graphs and metric dashboards; enables IP investigation, botnet C&C traffic detection via threat feeds, port traffic analysis, and traffic destination analysis based on AS numbers and CDNs.
• CERT Service Computer Emergency Response Team service providing a single contact point for clients dealing with computer security incidents, including technical assistance, incident collection and analysis, and notifications to affected sites.
• Security Consultancy Services ICT security consultancy providing expert guidance on security architecture, risk assessment, and compliance for educational institutions; ISO 27001:2022-certified ICT Security Services operations.
• Gatekeeper IP Blocking Service IP blocking service to protect educational institutions from malicious traffic and cyber threats.
• Security Updates Security advisory and update service providing notifications about vulnerabilities, threats, and recommended mitigation measures to educational institutions.
• FileSender Large File Transfer Large file transfer service enabling secure sharing of large files across the education and research community.
• Media Hosting Media hosting service for storing and delivering multimedia content for educational institutions.
• Website Hosting Website hosting service for educational institution websites and online resources.
• DNS Zone Manager Self-service DNS platform enabling clients to manage their DNS zones independently.
• Point-to-Point Links Dedicated point-to-point network connectivity between educational institutions.
• eduroam Visitor Access (eVA) Service enabling visitors from institutions that do not fully support eduroam to access Wi-Fi at participating locations.
• Hosted RADIUS Centralised RADIUS authentication hosting service for network access control supporting eduroam and other network services.
• Schools Network Dedicated broadband network services for primary and secondary schools across Ireland, connecting all 4,000+ schools in partnership with the Department of Education.
• Research Engagement Services Services supporting researchers' access to research infrastructure, project funding opportunities, and national/international research collaborations including EOSC and NORF.
• Brokerage Services Aggregated ICT procurement services delivering cost savings of approximately €7.34 million annually to the education and research sector through collective purchasing power and framework agreements.
• HEAnet Student and Staff Discount Store E-commerce platform offering discounted laptops, desktops, tablets, accessories, and software to eligible students and staff in the education and research sector through partnerships with technology vendors, accessed via edugate authentication.

Quantifiable outcome

• €7.34 million in annual cost savings for education and research sector through brokerage services
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• EduCampuscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 December 2025HEAnet and EduCampus merged effective December 31, 2025 to form Asiera, a unified organization dedicated to delivering ICT shared services to Ireland's education and research sector.
• IRLDAT Project Partners (UCC, UCD, SETU, ICHEC, EUDAT)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022HEAnet leads the IRLDAT project, awarded €183,000 under the National Action Plan for Open Research. Partners include University College Cork, University College Dublin, South East Technological University, Irish Centre for High-End Computing, and EUDAT European data infrastructure.
• JisccoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019UK National Research and Education Network providing DDoS mitigation services to HEAnet clients. The 12-month rolling contract enables Irish universities, colleges, and schools to access Jisc's established cybersecurity protection.
• GÉANTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPan-European association of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs). HEAnet connects to global academic and research networks through GÉANT partnership, enabling Irish researchers to access European research infrastructure and resources.
• INEX (Internet Neutral Exchange)coreTechnology or IntegrationIrish internet exchange point where HEAnet peers with other networks. HEAnet maintains connections with Eir, BT, Google, Facebook, and dozens of other networks through INEX.
• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or IntegrationPrivate peering relationship between HEAnet and Microsoft, with HEAnet maintaining a dedicated 10Gbit/s connection to Microsoft. Also provides access to Office 365 services.
• Union of Students in Ireland (USI)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration to promote eduroam Wi-Fi to new students. USI includes information on eduroam in student information leaflets distributed to hundreds of thousands of students nationwide.
• Department of EducationmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGovernment department partnership for schools broadband programme and ICT procurement initiatives.
• Wexford County Council / LibrariesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributoreduroam Everywhere initiative partnership bringing eduroam Wi-Fi hotspots to Wexford public libraries.
• Maynooth University - STEM Passport for Inclusion ProgrammeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver Transition Year Programme introducing students to STEM careers, with participation from HEAnet and EduCampus staff.
• National Open Research Forum (NORF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHEAnet participates in NORF steering group and strategic initiatives including EOSC-Ireland group, supporting Ireland's transition towards open research.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• GÉANT: Pan-European NREN association connecting European national research networks including HEAnet. Not a direct competitor but a core infrastructure partner and strategic umbrella under which HEAnet accesses global research networks.

Direct peers

• Jisc: UK's national research and education network providing connectivity, digital, and security services to higher education and research. Direct NREN peer to HEAnet; also an existing DDoS mitigation partner, making it the closest comparable operator.
• RedIRIS: Spain's national research and education network operated by the Spanish National Research Council, providing advanced network services to Spanish universities and research centres. Comparable in scope and structure.
• CANARIE: Canada's NREN operating a high-speed national network linking Canadian universities, colleges, schools, and research institutions. Direct peer in mission, funding model, and service portfolio.
• Internet2: US non-profit computer networking consortium serving research and education communities. Operates the national research backbone and provides identity (InCommon), security, and shared services comparable to HEAnet's portfolio.
• RENATER: France's national research and education network providing connectivity and services to French higher education and research institutions. Comparable as a publicly-mandated national infrastructure provider.
• SURF: Dutch cooperative of education and research institutions operating SURFnet, the Netherlands' national research network. Comparable in mission, cooperative ownership model, and portfolio of ICT shared services including networking, identity, and security.
• DFN-Verein: German research network operator running the X-WiN backbone for German universities and research institutions. Direct NREN peer with similar connectivity, identity, and security service offerings.

Regional players

• NORDUNET: Nordic regional NREN collaboration serving Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Operates the global research network backbone for Nordic countries and is comparable in mission and structure to HEAnet.
• AARNet: Australia's NREN providing internet and network services to the Australian research and education sector. Comparable in business model and service portfolio but operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@HEAnet
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heanet-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/heanet_clg
• Xx.com/heanet
• Facebookfacebook.com/117074412627

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HEAnet Limited