Despite increased availability and lower cost for broadband internet connections, Ireland's overall broadband performance when measured against other countries has not improved, a new Forfás report states.

"Although broadband take-up in Ireland is increasing, take-up in other countries is also growing and as a result Ireland's relative performance has not improved," said Martin Cronin, chief executive, Forfás.

The report, Benchmarking Ireland's Broadband Performance, assesses Ireland's competitiveness in terms of broadband availability, take-up, quality and choice.

Among the positive findings of the report is that the cost of an entry-level DSL (digital subscriber line) broadband subscription in Ireland has decreased significantly since the launch of such services in 2002. Based on the amortised monthly costs for one megabit per second DSL, Ireland currently ranks seventh cheapest of 32 countries benchmarked.

However, Ireland's overall broadband performance still hovers close to the bottom of most charts. At the end of the second quarter 2005, Ireland ranked 25th out of the 32 countries for broadband take-up. When the group is limited to the 21 countries benchmarked in the 2004 study, Ireland's position has actually deteriorated, from 18th out of 21 in 2004 to 19th out of 21 in 2005.

The report also highlights the low take-up by small to medium-sized enterprises. Of 20 EU countries, Ireland ranks 17th for take-up by firms with a workforce of between 10-49 employees and 19th out of 20 for take-up by companies employing 50-249 people.

Mr Cronin also said despite significant improvements in DSL availability in Ireland since 2002, DSL coverage in Ireland stands at 72 per cent of the population, making it the second lowest of the EU-15 countries.

He also noted that a broadband innovation index, used to measure quality of service performance, ranks Ireland 21st out of 30 countries. The index indicates poor value for money for businesses, who tend to use advanced-level broadband products.

Three issues are highlighted as needing improvement: increasing broadband availability, increasing competition in the marketplace and creating awareness to increase demand. Forfás is seeking submissions from the public with ideas for addressing these areas until February 3rd, 2006.