Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 September 2005
573 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the position regarding the operations of the MANs infrastructure indicating the volumes of traffic and earnings on the network so far; if he will report on the MANs link at Gweedore, County Donegal and Kiltimagh, County Mayo. [25452/05]
Amharc ar fhreagrae-Net is the independent entity charged with managing, maintaining and operating the MANs on behalf of the State. e-Net was granted the 15 year contract in June 2004 further to a competitive public tender process. The company is based in Limerick. Information regarding traffic volumes and earnings on the networks are of a commercial nature and are a matter for e-Net. Similarly, any operational issues relating to particular MANs are the responsibility of e-Net.
574 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the position regarding the Government’s current target for broadband take-up in 2005, 2006 and 2007; if, and the way in which the Government’s broadband targets were downgraded for 2005 and 2006. [25453/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn late 2004, I set a Government target of 400,000 broadband subscribers to be achieved by end-2006. Subsequently, broadband subscriber numbers have grown by 73%, in the nine months since I set that target, to reach almost 174,000 by the end of July 2005.
No downgrade of broadband targets has taken place. The target set in late 2004 represents a significant, but achievable challenge, which requires the broadband service providers in Ireland to quadruple their number of customers from a base of 100,000 customers when I set the target.
