Poor broadband 'decisive' in losing investment

IRELAND HAS lost out on multinational investment because of poor broadband quality in certain areas, the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, has said.

He made the admission when he launched a €350 million investment plan for the sector yesterday.

He said the State would provide €175 million of the total and “ambitious” targets for the delivery of high-speed broadband would ensure that people living in thinly populated rural areas were not left behind. The balance of the funding will come from the private sector.

“I have been informed by the IDA that it is a factor that can prove decisive in certain cases. I think there was a recent case in Cork where that was the case . . . I believe that it has been a factor that may have tilted the decision on occasion as to location.”

Mr Rabbitte said broadband quality was the main issue for multinational companies. He described the new plan as “the rural electrification of the 21st century” and he outlined a series of targets to be met within the lifetime of the Government.

He said 70-100 megabits per second (Mbps) should be available to at least 50 per cent of the population by 2015, with a majority having access to 100Mbps.

At least 40Mbps “and in many cases much faster speeds” should be available to at least a further 20 per cent of the population and potentially as much as 35 per cent around smaller towns and villages. A minimum of 30Mbps should be available to everyone in the State.

Mr Rabbitte said Taoiseach Enda Kenny had assured him the State would cover any shortfall in spending committed to in the plan. He predicted public funds would involve a mix of money from the exchequer, the sale of State assets and other resources such as the National Pension Reserve Fund.

Fianna Fáil communications spokesman Michael Moynihan criticised the plan, saying it was “high on rhetoric and low on specifics”. Mr Moynihan said proposing a broadband speed of 70-100Mbps for at least 50 per cent of the population was “hugely ambitious” and he demanded a “tangible strategy”.