Vol. 500 No. 4
121 Mr. Gormley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the provision, if any, she envisages to ensure that a national broad-band policy framework is developed to increase efficient business operations in all parts of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4285/99]
The global communications revolution is changing the shape of the world economy. Dramatic advances in technology and the development of the Internet as a platform for electronic commerce are at the heart of this revolution. Within two to three years the Internet will have created a single market of over 300 million computer-based consumers world-wide. The scale of growth forecast for electronic commerce is phenomenal. Today, such transactions are worth $22 billion per annum. However, by 2002, the value of these transactions is expected to have risen to $350 billion per annum.
Irish business, whether indigenous or foreign owned, must be at the heart of this revolution and access to competitively priced broad-band telecommunications infrastructure, not only within Ireland but also connected to the global broad-band telecommunications networks, is a prerequisite for Ireland's future economic well-being.
In this regard, the Government decided last year to accelerate liberalisation and competition in the telecommunications sector. The Government also decided to establish a public-private consortium to negotiate with submarine cable providers to extend to Ireland significant additional band-width capacity which would be connected to the global telecommunications infrastructure. I understand that negotiations are proceeding apace.
The magnitude of the economic opportunities afforded by the advances in telecommunications technologies, including broad-band, has pushed information society and electronic commerce issues to the forefront of the Government's agenda and I am determined that Irish business will be well positioned to reap the rewards from these developments. Electronic commerce businesses will tend to be attracted to those countries with low cost, high quality telecommunications and Internet services, good business and legal environments for electronic commerce and highly skilled workforces.
Specifically, we must create a facilitatory regime for electronic commerce so as to retain existing businesses which have or which could develop a high telecommunications or Internet dependence; promote Ireland's reputation as an attractive location for investment particularly in leading edge electronic commerce projects; foster organic growth of strong indigenous electronic commerce companies and the creation of higher added-value, knowledge-intensive, better-paid jobs; and enhance and underpin the competitiveness of Irish business generally in the face of its competitors elsewhere who are also exploiting the potential of electronic commerce.
