INTERNET
South East broadband project is delayed
05-12-2002
by John Cradden
Work on the first phase of a major broadband infrastructure project for the South East looks set to be postponed until 2004.
The project to construct 100km of fibre optic network in Waterford and five nearby towns was due to begin shortly, but is likely to be postponed by the South East Regional Authority (SERA). The project, known as SERPANT, is one of 19 schemes that were approved by the government as part of an infrastructural plan to develop high-speed Internet technologies throughout the state.
Confirming a report in the Irish Times, SERA Director Thomas Byrne told ElectricNews.Net that although all 19 schemes have been sanctioned to go ahead by the Department of Communications, the authority was told that there would be no funding for the project in 2003. "There is no way that construction of projects for the 19 towns can proceed concurrently," he said, confirming that the SERPANT is one of the projects that appeared to have been moved down the priority list.
The project would have rolled out high-speed Internet technologies in the cities/towns of Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Clonmel, Wexford and Dungarvan.
Byrne said that it no official decision has been made about which schemes would proceed in the coming year, but the authority would be meeting next week with the Department to discuss the funding situation.
The news is a big disappointment to authority, said Byrne, which had put a lot of work and effort into the project. The 'SERPANT' Project is considered a cornerstone of the 'SEISS' (South-East Information Society Strategy), which was published in 2001. The SEISS project aims to position the South East as Ireland's leading ICT region.
The southeast region, which consists of Carlow, Kilkenny, south Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford, is one of the least prosperous regions in the country with a disposable income level per capita 12 percent below the national average in 1998.
It is also considered one of the areas least well served by IT infrastructural investment. A report published by the South East Information Society Strategy (SEISS) last year showed that IT infrastructure and awareness was exceptionally low in the Southeast. SEISS' report said that just 18 percent of the organisations in the region are aware of the Information Society and that 38 percent of organisations in the Southeast with between two and five employees do not have PCs. Of those organisations, only about 19 percent had a Web presence.
"It's certainly a blow for the rollout of broadband for SMEs in the South East," said Sean Lynam, e-business manager for the South East Chambers of Commerce. "The programme is very innovative approach to public private partnership to delivering broadband to the six local authority towns."
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