Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I thank all those who have participated in the debate. The issue of broadband is important because Internet connectivity allows us to participate in the knowledge economy and society. Connectivity is important for the continued development of our economy and will allow us advance our economy and take on economies with lower cost bases such as those in Asia and central and eastern Europe. Without connectivity we will not maintain the growth we have developed over the past ten to 15 years.

As Internet content and services improve, higher connectivity speeds are needed so we may benefit from activities available on-line, whether e-commerce, shopping, gaming or e-mailing family photos across the world in real time. Higher speeds need higher bandwidth, which means the ubiquitous availability of broadband connectivity. As an economy we need to ensure that we take full advantage of technological developments and as a society we need to ensure that we do not allow the creation of a digital divide either socially or regionally.

The broadband market in Ireland is fully liberalised and regulated, where appropriate, by ComReg the independent Commission for Communications Regulation. The role of the Government is to implement regulatory and infrastructure policies to support the private sector developing a competitive, affordable and rapidly growing broadband market that offers choice of products and providers to Irish consumers and businesses. I am pleased to say that broadband is now available in almost all parts of Ireland through a combination of DSL, fixed-wireless, cable television and satellite technologies. The combination of telecommunications regulation and competition is driving prices down for the benefit of Irish consumers and businesses. For example, DSL pricing fell by 25% in 2005 according to ComReg data.

The Irish broadband market is currently ranked lower than more developed markets in terms of broadband take-up. This reflects the relatively late launch of affordable and competitive broadband services in Ireland by telecommunications and cable television companies in the early 2000s. However, Ireland is one of the fastest growing broadband markets in the European Union and broadband take-up has more than tripled since the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources set a target of 400,000 subscribers in late 2004. We had 372,000 broadband subscribers by end-June 2006, which is equivalent to 9.27% of the population or 26.57% of households. Only 3% of the population were broadband subscribers at the beginning of 2005. At the end of 2005, EU-15 broadband take-up was 14% of the population or 34% of households.

Broadband subscriber numbers have increased significantly in the past two years. Almost 140,000 new broadband subscribers were added in 2005 and a further 100,000 in the first half of 2006. The latest ComReg quarterly report states there are 372,000 broadband subscribers as of June 2006. This is equivalent to 26.57% of all households. A snapshot of the market conducted by ComReg in the middle of September put the total number of broadband subscribers at over 410,000, or almost 30% of households. The official Government target was to have 400,000 subscribers by end-2006. This has been comfortably exceeded. The challenge now to industry is to get 500,000 broadband subscribers by mid-2007.

The website run by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, www.broadband.gov.ie gives full details of broadband pricing and availability around the country, including DSL, cable, fibre, satellite and fixed wireless technologies. The website also lists the different products on offer and the contact details for each service provider. Currently there is a choice of broadband services that can technically deliver broadband to any customer in Ireland. Today, almost 70 service providers in Ireland offer nearly 300 different types of broadband products across a mixture of DSL, fixed wireless, satellite and cable options.

Wireless broadband technology is improving rapidly. The lowering of equipment prices has made this technology much more attractive of late, especially in rural areas that cannot obtain ADSL connectivity. The developments of Wi-Max and HSDPA, high-speed downlink packet access, offer considerable potential for the future.

However, it is not enough to just make broadband available. The industry needs to continue to demonstrate what broadband can do for those who may not have considered getting broadband before. The Department's broadband awareness television advertising campaign is aimed at supporting the efforts of the sector. This campaign, supported by INTERREG funding and by ComReg, has been running constantly since early July and was originally scheduled to run until Hallowe'en. However, additional funding to extend the campaign right up to the new year has now been secured. In addition, a further €1.35 million has been secured from INTERREG to help roll out the 2007 and 2008 "Make It Secure" campaigns on a cross-Border basis. These campaigns will continue to promote the use of broadband technologies but will focus on how to have a safe and enjoyable Internet experience.

The Government has long recognised that a lack of investment by the private sector in the necessary infrastructure has acted as an impediment to the speedy roll out of competitive, affordable broadband services in Ireland, principally in the regions.

The Government has been addressing the infrastructure deficit in the regions on a number of fronts. Direct funding has already been provided under the national development plan for the provision of backbone infrastructure and to upgrade local access infrastructure. In partnership with local and regional authorities, the Government is continuing to fund the construction of high-speed, open-access metropolitan area networks in towns and cities nationwide. Phase 1 of this programme has delivered fibre optic networks to 27 towns and cities throughout the country. This programme has been extended to over 90 towns in various locations nationwide. These networks are enabling private sector operators to offer world class broadband services at competitive costs.

The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources also offers funding assistance for smaller towns and rural communities through the group broadband scheme. The scheme, which is technology-neutral, subsidises the roll out of the most suitable broadband infrastructure for a particular area. Over 160 projects have been approved for funding under the scheme covering almost 580 communities with a combined population of over 420,000. A total of 37 service providers have participated in this scheme. This range of small to medium-sized service providers has supported competition using a range of different technologies. In addition, these service providers have made use of the private and State owned regional backhaul links.

Despite Ireland's rapidly expanding broadband market I accept there are some areas of the country where the sector will be unable to justify the provision of broadband connectivity on a commercial basis. The time has come to address this issue. The Minister is currently examining options in this regard and he hopes to be in a position to bring proposals to Government shortly.

The Minister believes we need to continue to support competition in the broadband market. Thriving markets in other countries with multiple operators are driving up connectivity and broadband speeds while prices continue to reduce. Our infrastructure interventions through the MANs programme and the GBS scheme have helped grow competition in the regions by facilitating the introduction of new service providers to areas where none existed a couple of years ago. This growth in the sector happened in spite of the obstacles to competition put in place by those intent on thwarting the introduction of real local loop unbundling or LLU. The local loop needs to be unbundled once and for all to the satisfaction of the regulator.

Senator Ross is an advocate of the free market. He has many friends in that free market. The Minister would be delighted if the Senator would use his influence to encourage greater co-operation and commitment from them to finalise the roll out of broadband.