Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I accept that Ireland has lagged behind other countries, primarily as a result of an initial lack of investment in our incumbent network and a lack of competition between cable operators and the incumbent. Competition has been the main driver of competition in other countries and is the reason they are ahead of us. We must also acknowledge that with subscriber growth here twice the OECD average and at the top of the range, Ireland is catching up. This is not sufficient and we must move beyond catching up and start leading. To do this, we must examine developments in successful countries such as Britain, the Netherlands and states of a similar size to Ireland where competitive markets have been the main drivers for broadband bandwidth increases and price reductions, the two key developments required here. Once Ireland has attained universal coverage, the key issues will be the speed and cost of broadband services. We must continue to increase broadband penetration and speeds and reduce prices.

On the secondary issue of rural and isolated areas, to take the example of County Wicklow, the Department is working on a competitive tendering process to provide universal coverage and ensure no area is left behind. Four applicants have applied under the scheme. The complicated and detailed competitive tendering process will be completed in the second quarter of 2008 and contracts will be ready by June. This will be a significant development in terms of further competition, particularly in the areas in question.

To return to my main point, the reason the figures on broadband uptake in Ireland are encouraging is that we are seeing rapid uptake of mobile broadband services. This may be for geographical reasons as it is more difficult in Ireland to get broadband into very dense developments when compared to other countries. Mobile penetration combined with much greater development of broadband by the cable operator and other wireless and satellite operators is leading to a more competitive market. We must push this development in order that companies compete effectively to deliver better quality services at a lower price.

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