INTERNET
Ireland lags in broadband league: Forfas
29-01-2004
by
The low rate of broadband penetration in Ireland means the country is at the bottom of the international table, even though its infrastructure is world-class.
These were the findings of a new report from Forfas, which assessed Ireland's competitiveness relative to 21 countries, including the 15 members of the EU, as well as Canada, Japan, Korea, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the United States.
Ireland ranks number one in terms of international broadband connectivity, ahead of Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and France. International connectivity means the ability of a broadband user to connect to users in other countries through international broadband networks.
"We do well in terms of international connectivity," said Adrian Devitt, senior policy analyst at Forfas, speaking to ElectricNews.net. "That's why we can attract companies such as Google and eBay."
The situation is not as strong in terms of regional broadband, but the completion of the ESB's national loop and the construction of the government's Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) is a good development. Ireland ranks fourth in the national broadband stakes, behind Denmark, Sweden and Luxembourg.
The worst news comes in terms of the availability and uptake of broadband among small businesses and private households. Ireland ranks 19th out of the 21 countries for overall broadband take-up, with broadband penetration of less than 1 percent. South Korea has the highest broadband penetration, at 25 percent. Canada, Denmark and Belgium all have broadband penetration rates of between 10 and 15 percent.
"Take-up has doubled in the past six months, from 15,000 DSL subscribers to 30,000," said Devitt. "But we're behind other countries because rollout was slow and prices were comparatively high."
The report found that although Eircom has set a target of 100,000 broadband users by the end of 2004, Ireland would need to have 380,000 broadband subscribers by the end of the year if it is to match the penetration rates of the top five countries at that point in time.
Even at this stage, Devitt said, it is important that the government needs to keep investing in Ireland's broadband infrastructure. Devitt, one of the authors of the report, said that there are two key reasons why broadband is so important to the Irish economy.
"Broadband is critically important for multinational or indigenous companies that are producing goods for export, since the ability to move information is as important as the ability to move goods," he said, speaking to ElectricNews.net. "In terms of small businesses and private households, broadband promotes IT skills and increases productivity in the economy."
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