Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I thank Senators for the opportunity raise this crucial issue for the development of our country. I do not think anyone can be complacent about this matter and, having listened to the concerns expressed by Senators O'Reilly, Brady and Carty, I do not think they are being complacent. They are very much aware of their constituents' concerns and interests in having a better broadband service. The first fundamental question is to ask why this is of such importance. There are three reasons, the first of which is the economic one. Many of the new jobs we will create as we trade our way out of the present economic crisis will arise from trade on the Internet — that network of networks for which broadband provides access. Broadband is not an end or a benefit in itself, except for the access it provides. The faster, more ubiquitous and easier that access is, the better for companies and individuals to be enterprising on that network. In that way they can trade not only in Ireland but across the world in a seamless, clean, quick and efficient manner. It is therefore central to our economic development in a way that we are only just starting to understand and explore. As a country that has excelled in recent years as an open economy, trading internationally, it is critical for us to have a top class broadband network so we can avail of those opportunities which we are only starting to consider.

Second, broadband is vital for the democratic development of our country. One of the other uses of the Internet is the social networking that can take place on it. In addition, it involves collaboration and a democratic engagement and involvement that can take place through the use of those networks. During the recent presidential election campaign in the United States we saw a further step up in terms of people becoming engaged and actively involved in politics, which is what we all aspire to see happening regardless of our political background. The Internet is therefore an important tool of democratisation in the development of our society.

Third, the important question "Why?" arises. I believe the Internet will be of crucial importance in meeting many of the environmental objectives we have. It will cut down emissions and the use of resources. People often refer to the "Internet of things" whereby we will go from one website, weblink or datapoint to another. It will increasingly be a network that connects devices for electronics, transport, monitoring and machines in the home so we can use them more efficiently. It will be centre stage in how we deliver efficiency to expand the economy in a way that meets the green economist Herman Daly's criteria of having qualitative development rather than quantitative growth.

For those three reasons the roll-out of broadband is crucial. If one looks at which countries have been successful in this respect and where networks have developed best, it is clear that competition has driven it. In Holland and the United Kingdom where they have good networks that are ahead of ours, the competition between cable and fixed-line phone companies to provide such network access has driven the development, bringing speeds up and prices down. While we have lagged behind in recent years, that competition has been more in evidence. Because of it we have seen investment by companies and improvements in the situation. As Senator Carty said, in June 2007 we had some 500,000 broadband connections whereas we now have roughly 1.2 million and the figure is rising. We have come back from bottom of the league to tenth in the EU out of 27 member states. We cannot be satisfied with that, however, because we need to be in the top three. We need to match Denmark, Holland, Britain and other countries. We recognise, however, that we have come some way. We have 40 operators which are all equally important in that competitive market. We do not see one operator as the sole possible provider.

We must also recognise that in instances there has been real market failure. The reason we have been lagging behind is because Eircom as a fixed-line company, and the cable operator, in those crucial years from 2002 to 2004 when the new Internet was developing, failed to invest in their networks and provide broadband access to the public. They would say that was due to the lack of a business case but the reality was that we were not giving people the opportunity to connect and by dint of that we were falling behind and losing jobs. We also lost the sort of Internet connectivity that is expected in a modern, knowledge-based society and thus our ability to obtain services from such networks was hindered. Because of that market failure the Government has over a period made a series of interventions and will continue to intervene to stimulate competition and get the services we want.

One of the key initial investments that makes such obvious sense now, although at the time it was fought tooth and nail by certain sections of the public service because we may not have had a top notch cost-benefit analysis, was in our international connectivity. A State investment in a global crossing-fibre connection to the wider world Internet, was a crucial investment. It improved our position through cheaper international connectivity and higher band width speeds, which brought business to this country. Continuing that tradition of investment, recent contracts have been signed concerning Project Kelvin, which is an international connection from the United States to the north west of this island, connecting down through Monaghan and Cavan — Senator O'Reilly will be glad to hear — to Dublin. That will add to our international connectivity thus ensuring quick and fast connections with the rest of the world.

In addition, the Government has engaged in a number of different schemes to boost market efforts. Initially with the group broadband schemes, some 127 rural communities were given the opportunity to access the type of operators referred to by Senator Twomey. They often operate with innovative fixed-line and wireless solutions which we must turn to because of our demographic situation, which is different to most other countries. Up to 40% of houses are located in rural areas where it is difficult to run a DSL connection any distance from an exchange.

Beyond that there was the development of the metropolitan area networks in two phases. It was a massive investment by the State in fibre connections in most large towns and several large cities. That investment will prove to be a long-term real benefit to the State, as we need to move to fibre as our main transportation network for heavy data traffic. There will be space for cable, mobile, fixed, wireless, satellite and other operators. They will be able to work best when they get their volume data transactions on to fibre. New photonic systems will be able to carry large volumes of data, multiples of what is carried by present systems. The metropolitan area networks were an important long-term investment by the State in that regard.

The issue of covering rural areas that could not be included in the metropolitan area networks scheme did not go away. Neither did the group broadband schemes solve the problem. In recognition of that, we have signed contracts on a national broadband scheme which is aimed at getting to the 10% of the population which otherwise would not be served. The best way to manage the scheme was to go down to the smallest local area district — the electoral district. We reached agreement with the EU under the competition rules that where there was a significant minority of the population in any such electoral district which could not get broadband, it could be provided on a subsidised-supported basis.

That is what happened with the competitive process involving several different companies and leading to the contract being awarded to 3, a Hutchinson Whampoa company, which in turn is a major international company providing 3G broadband access with guaranteed broadband transaction speeds. It is a crucial and important development for the social, economic and environmental agenda. The public sector involvement of €79 million, out of the €200 million project, shows it is not an insignificant investment and the political importance of covering those areas that would not be provided with that broadband service.

We need to push further and not rest. In the next-generation broadband discussions, we engaged with a range of different industries, not just telecommunications but the computer and broadcasting industries. Several developments from these discussions have emerged.

It is proposed to ensure high speed 100 MB connectivity broadband in our schools and a wireless connection for every classroom. For example, a French classroom could connect with a classroom in Mayo or Donegal to provide a real-time interaction and different learning experience. Another example would be a mathematics class being able to download the latest leading physics lectures from MIT at the click of a mouse. Teachers and students having that ability would change the education system. This would be the greatest benefit of the State intervening to provide such access to schools in an open and competitive manner which supports the market. It also will have a knock-on effect in the provision of high speed broadband services to other services and households in the area.

Another development in the strategy is to provide a one-stop-shop wherever there is State infrastructure with ducting, which could carry a fibre network. It will be co-ordinated to allow businesses access to it. Likewise, the planning system must be changed so that any new housing developments will have high-speed fibre connections to ensure householders do not have to retrofit their residences.

The most crucial advantage Ireland has in the development of a broadband network is its available wireless spectrum. Access to it, unlike in other countries, is not restricted because there is not much of a military demand for it and because we are an island. The use of that spectrum in an innovative way to test new wireless systems and applications is an advantage. We have given clear directions to the communications regulator to use the spectrum wisely and put us ahead of other countries which might not have the same resource.

It is crucial, be it the cable or fixed-line telephone companies, to make the investments now that will deliver the next generation of broadband services on their networks. Be it building a fibre connection to a telecommunications cabinet to ensure high-speed connection to the nearest homes or be it upgrading the cable television system to provide broadband, such investments will provide a future for those companies and provide an income, not just from their traffic but others sharing it.

In this way, a business case can be built up for what is a difficult and costly investment. Failure to do that will see this country falling behind again and missing out on the jobs we need to create in this economic crisis. The State will do whatever is possible to support this type of investment in a competitive market. There must be a more co-operative, but at the same time competitive, approach to ensure access for a range of different suppliers is made much more easily and everyone benefits economically. That is the nature of this new Internet world. It is a more collaborative and open world and ages away from the old days of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs where the one company managed the whole process. That was the time when one had to wait nine months to get a telephone and someone could listen in on the exchange. We are in a faster, more open-access and distributed Internet world now. We need to be good at it. The companies which fail to invest in it will fail in the short run because it is a fast-changing world. This is what we must achieve. It is no small task and one we cannot ignore or be slow in taking on.