Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2004
109 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the capacity of high speed Internet access he would like to see being made widely available; his understanding of the term broadband and the capacity the term represents; and if the Government intends to follow a policy of encouraging the availability of two megabit broadband connections. [5831/04]
View answer119 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the warning contained in the report, Ireland’s Broadband Future, published by the Information Society Commission that there is a very serious risk that this country will fall behind its global competitors unless more is done to drive the supply and uptake of broadband technologies; the steps he intends to take to address this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5836/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 119 together.
The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter in the first instance for the private sector companies operating in a fully liberalised marketplace, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg.
The Information Society Commission published its report, Ireland's Broadband Future, in December 2003. The overriding conclusions of the report are that the market has failed to meet demand in respect of broadband connectivity, and that there is a proven need for Government intervention with a set of measures to accelerate the provision of infrastructure and the driving of demand.
An indicative €200 million of Government and ERDF funding was set aside under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 for telecommunications infrastructure projects that will enable the provision of modern, high-speed communications by the private sector. The investment covers projects by both the private sector and local authorities, including the 19 metropolitan area networks, which are now being completed and which will begin coming on stream in mid-2004.
In December last, I announced my Department's broadband action plan, which will roll out connectivity to over 90 towns with a population of 1,500 and over, using community broadband exchanges and strategic fibre. A new group broadband scheme, similar to group water schemes, will enable smaller rural communities, for example, communities with a population of fewer than 1,500, to pool their demands and secure high-speed connectivity from a range of service providers, with grant assistance from the Government.
This programme will be run in partnership with the telecommunications industry. A spend of €35 million each year from now until 2007 has been committed to the broadband action plan. I have announced new framework deals with Esat BT and ESB Telecom to provide high-speed connectivity to the regions at less than 12% of the cost of the current high-speed connectivity, which has been widely welcomed.
Over 40 towns on the two companies' networks will be involved. The pricing of the two complementary offerings is on a par with the best available on the international market, and orders of magnitude below what had previously been available on the Irish market. The offerings will link all regions of the country at low cost and high speed, and will effectively remove the distance-from-Dublin factor, which until now was a considerable consideration for the provision of broadband.
Recent figures released by ComReg show the dramatic increase in the take-up of broadband in the past year. Ireland can now boast one of the highest Internet penetration levels in Europe, with more than 50,000 customers accessing the Internet though flat-rate packages offered by Eircom Net and other Internet service providers.
There are now more than 32,000 DSL subscribers nationally, compared with 1,000 just a year ago, in March 2003, and the number is increasing every month. Ireland can also boast, at 30%, one of the highest digital television penetration rates in Europe.
I recently launched a website, www.broadband.gov.ie, to give information to consumers about these services. The site also allows the public to register their interest in receiving broadband services. I would encourage Deputies on all sides of the House to ensure that all their constituents know about this issue.
There is something missing from the website.
If there is anything missing, the Deputy can let me know. It is a good effort to ensure that people know about and are, in effect, able to vote for broadband in their areas. The Government will continue to drive the broadband agenda and aims to have broadband available at bandwidths rising to five megabits to the home in the medium term, as identified in the New Connections document.
While the development of the telecommunications market is clearly dependent on the input from a number of players, both private and public, I am confident that the significant investments by Government will give the market a clear signal regarding our aims for improved connectivity, choice and competition.
Today, both myself and the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, launched an initiative, in conjunction with the four major mobile and fixed-line companies, to bring broadband to 4,100 schools around the country.
I hope people will not have to go through the Fianna Fáil website to get on to the website mentioned by the Minister to vote for broadband in their areas.
The Deputy has broadband in Wexford.
I welcome the roll-out of broadband, which is important in attracting business to our country. Is the Minister aware, however, that in some areas there are broadband speeds of only 512 kilobits? In the New Connections policy document, the Government promised to establish a target of 2 megabits. This is way below what was promised. While people are delighted to have broadband it is not living up to the expectations arising from the promises made by this Administration.
This is an issue for the open market, which is a liberalised one. Compared to the March 2003 figure of 1,000 DSL subscribers, we now have 32,000 people with DSL, which is a dramatic increase in a short time. The number of people accessing the Internet though flat-rate packages has gone from zero to 50,000 in a similar time scale. High speed Internet access is available in most regions of the country.
Is the Minister happy with the current speed?
Because of the dramatic initiatives taken by the Government in the past year or so, we will soon have one of the highest penetration rates for broadband in Europe.
The reality is that this whole area is a total disaster. When the Minister's term of office is over, people will look back and say that he missed one of the greatest opportunities in our history. I have been inundated with e-mails from people saying that they have failed the quality test indicator. That test is done on phone lines to see if they can take DSL. I am led to believe that at least 20% — the figure may be higher — of all the home phone lines in this country cannot get DSL because their quality is not good enough. That fact is not on the Minister's website so what is he doing about it?
Perhaps the Deputy should get on to some of his pals in the Communications Workers Union who seem to find fault with the fact that the Minister is intervening in this market.
The Minister has pals in Valentia.
The Deputy sits easily on the fence on this issue but he should be careful because he does not know on which side of the fence to fall. DSL is not the only technology available.
It is for phone lines.
Please allow the Minister to continue without interruption, Deputy Broughan, because we are at the end of Question Time.
In every area of the country, because 59 licences have been given out by ComReg, there is an availability for wireless broadband, which is as good as if not better than DSL.
