Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 62: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will comment on a recent report on broadband which positioned Dublin as the 87th city in the world in regard to quality of broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43336/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 86: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position currently held by the telecommunications sector here within the EU on a scale of one to 27 with particular reference to availability and access to highest speed broadband, satisfactory mobile telephony, cable and wireless systems; his plans to improve the situation dramatically from an Irish perspective; the timescale within which this might happen; if his attention has been drawn to the need to bring this sector up to international best practice given our competitive needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43371/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 86 together.

Government policy pertaining to the electronic communications market in Ireland is set out in "Next Generation Broadband — Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland", which I published in June 2009. The policy paper was developed in accordance with various key principles which are crucial to the development of the market including (i) competition, at platform and service levels, which drives innovation and investment (ii) investment certainty for service providers considering investing in network infrastructure, (iii) investment intervention by Government to bridge any digital divide to address market failures and to provide certain of the State's communication needs (iv) appropriate regulation.

A variety of international reports on electronic communications markets are published periodically. It is clear from all of the reports that the roll out, penetration and quality of broadband in Ireland has improved steadily over recent years. I welcome the "Broadband Quality Score" report published jointly by the Universities of Oxford (England) and Oviedo (Spain) on October 1st last and referred to by the Deputy. The report is the second annual global study on the quality of broadband connections, which provides useful comparisons of quality and penetration indicators between the countries studied in each year and a measurement of progress achieved in the period between the two reports.

The 2009 report highlights significant progress in Ireland's broadband performance across a range of headings. In particular it reflects the significant improvements in the roll out, penetration and quality of Ireland's broadband over the past year. The report highlights the improved broadband quality of service in Ireland moving the State into the group of countries that are recognised as "Meeting the needs of today's applications". In the previous report, published in 2008, Ireland was in the lower ranked group of countries that were classified as "Below today's applications threshold".

Ireland's overall ranking of 16th out of the 66 countries in the Broadband Leadership table, measuring broadband quality and penetration by households, is commendable and shows due recognition for our increased penetration and quality over recent years. Ireland is also credited for its performance in terms of "Broadband Leadership Movers 2008–2009 Innovation Economies". Only 11 of the 66 countries are credited as leaders in this "innovation economies" class. Dublin is ranked at 87, from a Broadband Quality Score perspective, of more than 240 cities surveyed bringing it within the top 100 cities in the 66 countries surveyed and is classified as meeting the needs of today's applications. It should be noted that major enterprises already located in, or who wish to locate in Ireland can contract with service providers who can provide high broadband speeds if required.

Our significant improvement in broadband availability over recent years is recognised in the table "penetration 2009" where we occupy 12th place in the table of 66 countries and were the 5th best country in terms of improvements in penetration between 2008 and 2009. I fully recognise the need to further improve access and the speed of broadband available in Ireland. I am determined to ensure that targeted Government action, the proper regulatory regime and a spirit of competitive collaboration within industry will address the issues. The high level recommendations for policy makers contained in the report are already embedded in my policy paper "Next Generation Broadband — Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland". It is also important to note that the report underpins recent OECD, ECTA and ComReg reports, which confirm improvements in Ireland's roll out and speed of broadband.