Sep 05 2007
Lack of demand IS an issue
As much as some like to whine about how everything is always the government’s or Eircom’s fault with broadband, I stand firmly by my long-standing opinion that while supply has been a (slowly improving) problem, this country has a very serious problem with demand. This is well recognised if you talk to the people who are close to the problem, have a good international perspective and sense of historical context.
Demand remains an issue, and I didn’t only bring forth this notion this week on radio — I have written at least three columns on this (which I guess no one read! LOL). I raised the issue again with Richard Aldiss (filling in for George Hook) on the radio on Monday, as an *additional* (note: not the ONLY) issue of importance and one I think is consistently overlooked. There are literally tens — hundreds? — of thousands of people who CAN get broadband now, many from more than one supplier, at a price that isn’t that much higher or lower than anywhere else, but the reality is: they don’t. They simply DON’T see any advantage to having broadband at home, and neither do many Irish businesses. The big issue is not coverage any longer, folks. The really, really big issue here is that MOST people still do not WANT broadband. This is true, and has been to varying degrees for years.
Example: my entire neighbourhood has been on an enabled exchange for half a decade now, with numerous other broadband options (wireless) too. Until recently — when students moved in next door — I was the only person on my whole street with any form of broadband. I could wardrive the length of this area with my Mac and maybe pick up only two or three others for blocks around with b/b. Yet this area is full of young professionals and students. On any Friday night in a pub, most of these people would easily blow in a single round, what a month’s broadband would cost them, so it ISN’T an issue of cost. The Irish hardly give a toss about costs anyway –look at the cost of drink, mobiles, restaurants, home stamp duty, and how little the Irish protest these issues, which would have people on the streets, voting out the politicians long ago elsewhere. Anyway, my broadband doesn’t cost all that much more than what my parents in Silicon Valley pay — and I had a connection available in my neighbourhood long before they did in theirs, and they are right along the famed heart of Valley VC money, Sand Hill Road! So people, don’t go whinging on about how it is a supply issue, and how the government owes you your broadband, NOW (I want my MTV…oops, YouTube!)! I don’t — excuse the pun — buy it.
Fortunately there are people who have a far more nuanced understanding of the problems and continue to work, as many have for decade,often behind the scenes, to make things change. The funny thing is how some of the projects that here and there were the previous targets of the whingers are actually those that have most contributed to bettering the situation here. This is recognised on an international level, and by analysts, and by businesses, but not often at home. I know some will say an international perspective isn’t clear enough or informed enough because it is all different on the ground here, dammit… but ahem, those would be the same people quick to stick OECD and UN reports on our low level of broadband penetration into press releases, wouldn’t it? LOL
The one thing I do find sad though is the consistently low level of debate on this important topic, often (most disappointingly) especially low from those who purport to want constructive change, where everything inevitably turns into personal attacks rather than productive discussion (often *incorrect* discussion, too — you wonder if people hear what was said, or only what they wanted to hear so they can, yes, whinge some more). Being on the receiving end of personal attacks isn’t necessarily annoying or hurtful, but it is truly disappointing that this is STILL the level of discussion. However, one thing you learn very quickly as a journalist is that some folks love you when you exactly confirm what they want to hear — a type of ‘praise’ that is pretty transparent at the time. Take any view other than that, and you get attacked. Not just your ideas. Not the issues themselves. You. It’s that old, sad strategy of the ad hominem attack.
Tiresome. Boring. Childish. And unproductive. Ah well, onward and hopefully, with supply and demand, upward!
75 responses so far
Karlin – Just read your column on newspapers and blogs with great interest. However, I am intrigued that you did not mention your own newspaper’s blogs – The Irish Times bloggers/journalists Jim Carroll, Shane Hegarty and Conor Pope. Is there a reason for this? Why did you concentrate on The Guardian when you could have looked much closer to home? Carroll’s blog in particular has been the find of the year in the Irish blogosphere and is proof that journalists make great bloggers because they know how to grab – and keep – readers.
Karlin has shown very clearly that her complaint is with the personal attacks. But what of mine, and the several other commenters on this blog and elsewhere?
Does she stand by the 90% coverage claim?? If it’s the case that 90% of lines are connected to DSL exchanges, and that 90% of those lines actually pass, then that means coverage is 81%. I suspect that both numbers are slightly less, meaning somewhere around 75% or 80%.
Does she still think that demand is a serious issue, even though there are more broadband connections now, than dialup?? I am of the opinion that those who NEED broadband for work are more important than getting “breakfast roll man” to “get the broadband in”.
I am of the opinion that we ARE owed some broadband service, regardless of state intervention. We need a knowledge-based economy, broadband is vital for internet usage nowadays, and the means are there to ensure coverage at low cost, far less than the sale of TÉ generated for the state. I want to be served by a Govt. which aims for the best services and infrastructure, not lazily pass the problem onto someone else.
Why the hell is data retention coming up in a blog post that NEVER mentioned it?? Surely the issue is that thousands don’t have to worry about IP data retention, as they can’t connect to the internet??
William, Karlin,
In re. Williams knowledge comments. I was fully aware of the legislation in respect of retention and the impending extensions. Most in the Telco industry were/are. The right to reply or comment was an issue, but we must assume our elected representative did the necessary work (whether they did or not).
The Omagh bombing is the reason we are where we are with these legislative provisions. I can’t see a judge striking that logic down, but instead he/she might apply a proportionality test to infringement of a right for the common good.
Privacy remains an unenumerated right under the Irish Constitution stemmig from McGee v. Ireland, Norris v. AG/Norris v. Ireland, Kennedy and Arnold v. Ireland and Dillion v. Ireland.
There are two separate issues here. Data Retention and Data Protection. Protection under the EU auspices of Article 29, we are in line with the EU averages. Data Retention we are not. Italy has the longest retention period.
Sections 63 and 64 of the 2005 Counter Terrorism Act are fresh for Data Retention. Previously eircom had obligations under the 1983 and 1993 P&T acts to retain data for firstly, 6 years and then 3 years.
The DRI case relates to an intervening period of legislative uncertainty.
Interception and Retention are now fully covered off. The issue and litigation will centre on whether the data retained is personal, some would think not.
The origingal post speaks of Demand. Demand is an issue, but so is inertia in respect of broadband. The ALTO group are aware that the OECD figures are not great and ECTA figures are the ones which we can trust to a better degree.
Forebearance will be a requirement. eircom are going to have to offer up something, maybe in return for lighter regulation e.g., give efficient LLU in return for less other forms of regulation.
eircom’s NGN is only designed to compete with UPC.
An Eircom engineer once told me that Eircom wouldn’t even dream of upgrading a local exchange if less than 2000 people are connected to it. So it would be more a lack of population than a lack of demand in that example.
Karlin, In rural Tipperary the largest community broadband scheme is in operation. This is happening despite the fact that the goal posts got moved regarding the grant for capital equipment. When the scheme was launched grants were made available to bring broadband to communities.
When payments were issues they were made on the basis on the number of people connected. In other words they decided to treat is as a group water scheme.
http://www.irishsilicon.com/archives/2007/02/its_a_group_bro.html
In Upperchurch there are in excess of 40 households looking for broadband, this is being replicated up and down the county. So there is a demand in Rural Ireland.
I would observe further.
Ireland lags EU penetration benchmarks by some 20%
This is CURRENTLY the case while the latest available international comparative figures refer to the first quarter of 2007 showing us as lower. .
We also have 20% current non availability of acceptable Broadband .
THE DEMAND IS BASICALLY THE SAME as everywhere else. seeing as some of our peers like Slovenia have supply at nearer 100% together with VDSL live and FTTH live and no caps . See .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Internet_access_in_Slovenia .
IF the 20% supply issue were sorted then the household penetration would be the same as our peers
The 20% non supply issue will NEVER be sorted if politicians are allowed to blithely state that the problem is actually with 10% of the population and if the same politicians do not stand corrected on this misleading presumption on the national airwaves.
I have to say I don’t think demand is a problem in most areas.
I’ve spent the past year trying to get broadband for my parents in Offaly and the only service I’ve gotten for them is 3 broadband which is a disgrace of a service (see 1,500+ post thread of complaints on boards.ie broadband section) but still better than the other alternatives I’ve looked at. This includes trying expensive satellite broadband (not even close to acceptable and slower than dial up for loading sites that aren’t very image heavy) and when a wireless operator did move into the area, there was no line of sight so we couldn’t get the service which is the same problem a lot of people in these mini-monopoly areas have as there is only one provider in many rural areas, ripping people off for very poor speeds (see last mile offering 1/2Mbps at 40:1 contention for 40 Euro a month at the time of our line of site test! The only reason people put up with those prices and speeds is a lack of supply of broadband).
Karlin you might feel that people are attacking you over this but the fact is your post is an insult to people like me who have to try so hard to even get a basic service. Its great that broadband is readily available where you live but this is certainly not the case for everyone and making statements that suggest that the problem is people don’t want it kind of touches a nerve with the people trying desperately to get it. Personally I think the focus should be on getting broadband to the people that want it first as the people that don’t know about broadband don’t know what they are missing. We can work on education later or at the same time as rolling it out but it makes little difference to someone to be told the benefits of broadband if when they try to get it they can’t. At that point, people that were only half interested by a government ad about the benefits of broadband will give up trying to get it.
IMO, broadband companies in Ireland are cowboys with unprofessional services and expensive costs (40 Euro for 2Mbps where I live now, Maynooth. In rented accomodation a land line isn’t always possible and we have to use fixed wireless to get a service, as there is 4 of us sharing the house, we have unlimited broadband as otherwise there would be arguments over who used up the cap etc.. As someone who works in IT and as the other people I live with work from home, broadband is as essential as running water to us) for unacceptable service in many cases. If it was any other country the regulator would get involved in things like the situation with 3 and before them Irish Broadband and now Ice broadband too, all blatently lying to consumers about their service.
Many of the people I know who don’t have broadband, don’t want to get it because of the horror stories from BT’s billing department that are on boards.ie and similar for Perlico and many other bitstream sellers. Also the problems with Smart have been very damaging to Irish peoples trust of broadband providers.
I think rather than saying the people don’t want it, journalists should be pushing the consumers agenda that our regulator is ineffective, our services are poor, our coverage is poor and we are not happy with basic broadband when our European neighbours have much faster services for the same price or cheaper (highest line rental in Europe and probably the world kind of offsets any benefit of the so called cheap broadband packages as most people use their mobiles more than their land lines at this stage).
I think Ireland could still be considered to be in the early adopter phase of broadband roll out/take up. This is when the more technical people are signing up for the service and the less technical here from word of mouth about experiences and need guidance from the early adopters. The problem is of course that the word of mouth and advice from the early adopters is at times, an absolute nightmare scenario of bad service and over charging from operators.
The fact that Wisps up and down the country are run of their feet trying to meet the demand should also be an indication that people DO want broadband…
I can go on and on about this topic but I agree with Karlin that this does not achieve anything.
I posted a question in the IOFFL forum months earlier this year asking what they had achieved so far and what their suggestions were for solving the problem and promptly got banned from the forum. So much for discussion….
We need constructive criticism of the current policy in regards to broadband not just finger pointing and nay-saying.
E.
I would expect more from a journalist of your stature. I also notice how you have been deleting comments that have disagreed with your opinion
I would like at this point to note for the benefit of supporter’s of Mr. Mulley that he, too, bans and deletes comments where he’s disagreed with (I have been so treated myself, for asking about goings-on involving the Microsoft involvement in Mulley’s “Blog Awards”)
As to the question of demand – I hate to have to break it to some of the trendy web evangelists here, but the majority of the population aren’t inclined to want “the Internet” for anything more than booking tickets, and this isn’t going to change anytime in the near future.
(p0rn excepted, of course
Just on demand — people are simplifying this incorrectly into a (wrong) assumption that I meant only that people ‘don’t want broadband’. Demand is far more complex — the reasons WHY they don’t want it relate to cost QoS, available services, quality of providers… a lot of the issues people are noting as SUPPLY problems. I would also place them in the DEMAND column so actually we are saying much the same thing in different ways and there eally is not that much disagreement here. I have discussed such things in my columns before and wasn;t going to reiterate an entire argument in a blog post that was actually intended to be more about level of discussion and why these issues are not being moved forward (lack of a lobby is going to be a BIG problem for anyone wanting real change!).
Ok, now: let’s take a step back here. A lot of people are just commenting on comments on other comments on a show they didn’t hear and in many cases on an issue which is not connected directly to the show, and totally out of context. This, in about 80% of the above comments, is making up a ‘debate’ that has no basis in what was actually said or thought by me.
I think if people go get the podcast when it becomes available you will find that most of this is bordering on the ridiculous. You will hear that — in the very tiny amount of time I was given to respond to the Minister’s claims in a 17 minute segment that also included another news item besides this weekend b/b announcement — I raised the issue of availaibility, I raised the issue of quality of service and whether govt claims of this many or that many lines even mattered when the issue was the level of service delivery was so low, I asked how these statistics were being calculated, I raised the point that I had discussed many of the problems with broadband supply and demand over many years with Eamon long before he even went into politics because I have known him for over a decade — and now the moment of truth was there for him to see if he could deliver (this is hardly ‘supporting’ the minister but I felt I had to acknowldege a long acquaintance and personal friendship publicly. If I hadn’t, then people who found out I know him, and that he is maried to one of my oldest friends, would comment that I had NOT revealed this. Does acquaintance affect my coverage? Well, I already ripped into his department’s approval of a mobile phone registry… Does anyone follow this type of coverage?).
I certainly was not any more supportive of ANY govt policy or ANY statistics than are in the quotes Damien Mulley gave to the Times last June and which I reprinted above, and I at least certainly NEVER said the new broadband scvheme was ‘welcome’, as Damien did in his exit speech.
In addition, let me make this very clear: I did NOT state the there was 90% coverage in Ireland, and I did NOT accept this statement either. However I was NOT the interviewer for the piece, and I do not ever control the direction of interviews or shows — I am just as much a guest as anyone else we have in each week. I do try to influence possible directions — as I do with George, and this time with Richard for this show, I submitted questions that COULD be used by him. George asks what he wishes to ask, as does Richard, and if and when I get a chance, I will add to that. Anyone who listens regularly will know how difficult it is to get a word in edgewise with George (!!) and Richard had a clear idea of what he was going to ask and in this case did 90% of the talking — as anyone will hear when listening to the actual segment. Inasmuch as I was given any time, every single comment I made was to raise an issue in the tiny amount of time I was gven, *not agree with the minister*. At no point did I ever say his programme was welcome, excellent, interesting or important; nor did I accept any figures he gave. So why am I being accused of this? Disagree with my opinions all you want, folks, but base those disagreements on FACT, not on making up attitudes and comments I don’t have and didn’t make. Check YOUR facts by researching my precious stories and listening to the segment. This is the real negative of blogs — the untrue makes the rounds just as quickly — and often, glefully and with more ‘belief’ — than reality. This seriously degrades the whole importance and potential of blogs and is partly what I mean when I refer to the low level of discussion that can occur.
I honestly don’t care whether people agree with my POV (though I will argue my own corner) — and I also will stand on my decades long record of coverage of the WHOLE broadband picture which relentlssly focused on the supply and quality problem from the 90s onwards. For anyone who wants to put in the time and do some actual research, my coverage is archived in international publications including the Guardian and Wired News as well as in a decade of Times coverage.
But here’s a proposal — every single person who has gotten riled over this issue needs to read my coverage on data retention as that is incredibly shocking and far reaching and this is an audience who should most understand that. Then go join Digital Rights Ireland where your indignation can be given a real purpose to fight this appalling situation here and in Europe.
For the record, here is the actual list of questions I submitted for Richard, which can be verified by Newstalk researchers:
1) Is 90% of the country *really* already covered?
2) Does covered mean there is definitely some sort of broadband service or just that there COULD be some sort of service?
3) Will covering that ‘remaining10%’ include homes outside of towns and villages?
4) But Ireland’s broadband penetration remains woefully low on all the international scorecards. Lower than many developing world countries!
5) Is the issue not really the issue of broadband take-up as well as broadband coverage?
6) Why does the take-up remain so low? Is it a govrnment issue to address this? An industry issue?
7) Also level of service is going to be the next big issue — many, like the head of eBay Ireland, have said they feel Ireland is only addressing provision and penetration when the rest of the world is moving on to faster service at lower cost.
Now, I had no control over what was asked except for a brief window to comment and ask a few questions myself — I did attempt to roll together a number of these questions as anyone listening back to the podcost will be able to hear.
I won’t add any more comments here as there’s really nothing more I can say and a quickly written small blog post on the issue of demand is not stting out the full argument I have made in the past in columns (that no one here obviously reads! LOL). People should be able to get the podcast and have a listen themselves. Anyone can go to the Times archives to research my long-standing and extensive coverage of an isue most of the media totally ignored until the last couple of years.
But this is what I was writing just over a decade ago in a Times column:
While the Government offered its belated rollback of Telecom’s derogation as if it were a triumphal act on behalf of “The People”, the truth is that every Government of the past decade has failed to offer a plan on how it intends to deal with much less capitalise upon the digital world now upon us.
The neglect starts at the most basic, practical levels, like computer support for children. The Republic boasts of its technical know-how how many times have you read that it’s the second largest exporter of software in the world? yet little software of any sort ends up in the nation’s schools, or the computers that run it.
Shamefully, the Republic also comes in at the bottom end of survey after survey on European and international computer capability.
Again and again, the Government has failed to move proactively. It could and should have lifted the derogation well before now. Many Government ministers still seem blissfully unaware of the nuts-and-bolts facts about the technology industries which have become a mainstay of the State’s current economic prosperity.
Many don’t understand the Internet at all. Yet, these people will decide the Republic’s future in a technology-based world which changes at blistering speed. All governments have done, at the most alarmingly leisurely pace, is set up committees to think about issues that should have been thought about five years ago, and issue vague reports on the information age.
Six months drift by a lifetime of change in terms of any tech-driven industry and a new report appears. Little is actually done.
The free market can stimulate massive broadband investment in a very large country like the US, and to a lesser extent in Britain the market will snap up bandwidth if it’s offered. The tiny Republic, if it remains reliant on the same laissez-faire approach, cannot hope to compete against such giants in any significant way.
The Government cannot continue to let the IDA and Forfas “deal with that sort of complicated thing” and hope someone else will figure out what needs doing to keep the State attractive to inward investment.
So, let’s get Telecom and Microsoft off the stage. The spotlight should be on the Government, which must deliver an vision of what the State is trying to achieve for its digital future and specifically, how it intends to achieve it. It’s time for some real support for an information-age Republic, not another set of grand but empty verbal gestures.
Now that was a long riposte .
May I focus on this bit , I am not interested in going off topic on Data Retention and the Forfás role in rollout as Forfás have no money to roll anything out.
“In addition, let me make this very clear: I did NOT state the there was 90% coverage in Ireland, and I did NOT accept this statement either.”
You DID not state that there was 90% coverage in Ireland and you DID NOTHING to correct Eamonn Ryan when he more or less stated there was.
AGAIN I put this to you Karlin.
1. If the real SUPPLY situation is that c.80% of the population in their homes can get decent BB today .
2 And if we lag penetration averages in developed countries by some 20%
( some more on this but unattributed and somwhat imprecise )
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single9157
3. DOES IT NOT FOLLOW that our Broadband demand is average by EU standards .
4. AND that we do not have a noticeable DEMAND PROBLEM as you intimated in that Nestalk piece AFTER you passed on the opportunity to correct Eamonn when he outlined his scheme parameters .
Rebuttal is a not unimportant duty of the expert studio guest, especially during a long debate such as that Newstalk piece which wen to 15 mins .
It was not a case of wham bam 2 soundbites each then over and out .
Cormac: I completely accept I didn’t cover what YOU wanted to hear nor what OTHERS may have wanted to hear. I however did try to ask as much as I could within a small window (I think I was allowed two replies and unfortunately they were in a totally different context of a question from Richard not related to these issues). As much as you might have liked a return to the 90% issue, I was not steering those questions, and had to work within Richard’s framework just as I am often unable to raise any substantive issues with George — both these people know their general audience and make the decision on where they will direct questions. I expected Richard might work off the questions I submitted and that we would focus on those issues, but as people can hear, he decided to go in another direction and in the context of this show, I cannot just wrest it back in another direction. It is the presenter’s show. As a writer, it IS something I can return to in a column, and I will.
But please, just because a question isn’t asked or asked in enough detail, for whatever reason — my or the presenter’s ignorance, time limitations, show format — does NOT imply agreement with any opinion or facts offered by a guest!! That is simply a ridiculous conclusion, yet this is basically the gist of what many are saying here.
I refer people back to what I have written in the past, and my own questions as submitted to Newstalk — obviously I do not have such opinions or agreements. I am happy to recognise there were a whole range of questions that could and should have been asked, but there isn’t a single programme where I have not been acutely aware of how much more could have been done. But I am stuck with a 17 minute slot in which we have to cover numerous items and in which I do not generally get much chance to direct conversation.
What I’d love would be to have a full 30 minute show solely on technology, run by me, in which I’d have the flexibility to do something like bring in this or any other minister and where questions could be taken directly from listeners. Many audience members always have far more knowledge than any presenter, and it would make for a great programming format.
For whatever reason, Richard didn’t take any text questions either — I’d actually thought we would have audience interaction even on that limited basis and had expected some strong questioning — didn’t expect that he wouldn’t take any as usually he likes adding in texts, as does George.
Karlin, you cannot expect people to trust what you say when that interview only added to those “grand but empty verbal gestures”.
Coverage of households is still a serious issue, especially when many of the lines in town centres which would pass actually belong to businesses, while rural areas and suburbs (with mainly residential areas) would have no DSL availabliity and either oversubscribed, poor wireless service or none at all.
It is downright disingenuous to talk about Triple Play on the radio with a like-minded minister, when the same Govt. has no proposals on how to allow easy access to operator-neutral fibre within apartments and housing estates. And if corners are cut by the likes of UPC and they provide poor service, then people will stay with the Sky and Eircom combination, because it works!!
Not to mention the shady cable providers in some apartments…
There’s a lot more to Triple Play than getting a single, overall bill per month!
And Karlin, do you even know why people ask why “My neighbour has broadband so why can I not get it?” ?
People; is this long drawn out comment thread really going to lead to any kind of improvement in availability of broadband?
E.
Matthew:
1) Out of curiosity, did you actually hear the interview?
2) Have you read anything I have written, say in just the past 12 months, on the issue of broadband supply? Anythng at all?
3) In any post I have made here, or anything I have ever written here or in any article in the past decade, where have I said supply is NOT a serious issue? That it does not remain a serious issue? That it will not remain a serious issue probably for years because our infrastructure is so poor? The fact that I see demand — including the way in which it *fronts* or frames the issue of supply — as perhaps more important now does not mean I think Ireland has reached a happy clappy point of net saturation.
I’ve given the majorty of my career as a working journalist to TWO issues — broadband and data retention, highlighting problems long before any other member of the media did, often to total indifference in govt and the general public. I stand totally and firmly on my record in those areas and they are available as amatter of public record. I have no problem AT ALL in accepting I don’t meet the demands of the situation all the time (does anyone, in their job?) and I certainly have never expected to make everyone happy.
If for some, my entire career is now contradicted by their belief that I didn’t raise the right questions persuasively enough in my three to four minutes of speaking time on a show on which I was a guest, nor the presenter controlling format or questions, than so be it. But if that is the case, then good luck in ever changing anything on these issues. There are few willing to keep pushing these issues ANYWHERE and keep them in the public eye, as I am sure you will accept. How much coverage did the b/b announcement get anywhere else, this week? If nothing esle, at least accept that I tried to make it a central interview and did try to shape the questions for the actual questioner with EXACTLY the points everyone has made.
Here’s what would make a real difference: why don’t just a few of you band together and resurrect Ireland Offline and put these issues to the wider press and government and industry yourselves?
If anyone wants to actually DO something, in particular, creating and running a public lobby to air these concerns, I will be more than happy to give you LOTS of print space and call upon you for comments on these issues in future.
I am of for the weekend now though and then shortly thereafter, of for a week to look after my dad, so am not sure how often I will be able to come back to this section in the next 10 days.
ah I get it, pretend to go away for awhile with the hopes that everything will blow over and you won’t have to actually answer a question that requires re-search.
I take it you’ve listened to yourself saying there is 90% coverage?
http://www.mulley.net/2007/09/07/karlin-lillington-challenge-she-denies-she-said-theres-90-coverage-yet-i-have-the-mp3/
Good job!
Yes, I heard the interview when Damien Mulley posted it on his blog and I have listened to it once again since.
In your first post, you said that supply was a slowly improving problem with supply, but a serious problem with demand. This would indicate that the priority is to solving demand problems. I disagree with that stance.
And net saturation is not the same thing as universal availability. Also, it was you who said “The big issue is not coverage any longer, folks”. It is the ONLY issue for up to a quarter of households in this country. If some of those don’t want broadband well at least they have the CHOICE not to, and to subscribe in the future. That’s what the NBS is meant to address.
A good supply of broadband will always remain the most fundamental issue. There can be no substantial demand stimulation if the product doesn’t exist.
The point about being under the restrictions of a presenter doesn’t wash. What justification is there for including lines which failed in “kinda-covered areas” in the 90% figure? 1 in 10 “enabled” lines still fail. There is a 6-digit number of phone lines which fit this category. Has this 90% lie ever been challenged by you? As you have been in touch with Eamonn Ryan, is it something you would mention to him at some dinner party or other?
IrelandOffline is gone for now, and it was disbanded for good and still valid reasons. It’s part of the past now. There are still people out there who will make their case as best they can among other commitments.
I am one of those who, according to Eircom/Comreg, should be able to avail of Broadband. My local exchange was upgraded about a year ago. Sadly, I can’t. My line is split between 2/3 houses on my road, yet I’m still included in the figures for people who can get it, but are not interested.
Matthew, is that figure of 1 in 10 lines failing an official figure ? I have not done/seen a survey of my area, but from talking to people I feel the number could be much higher here, possibly as high as 3 in 10 ?
I’m surprised that no one seems to have explicitly made the connection between:
- Availability of useful (functional) content
- Demand for broadband
- Availability of broadband -> leading to additional content.
What doesn’t exist in Ireland is a virtuous circle of content, demand and access. None of these things have reached a critical mass.
If the government has failed at anything, it is has failed to leverage the provision of state services as useful electronic content. Witness the fact that most PAYE users have never tried to access PAYE online, and if they have it is virtually unusable.
The government knows what needs to be done, and have done since the publication of the New Connections report in 2002, but few of the actions identified in that report have been delivered – for example the establishment of an Irish Spatial Data Infrastructure….
An appropriate cartoon perhaps
Not sure why the link did not show…i’ll try again…
http://i11.tinypic.com/6ftmfcp.jpg
Looking at the th last ComReg trends survey the key issues identified as barriers to Internet in the home were, No PC, No skills and too expensive. 27% of home Internet users also continue to use diall up, so there is still potential in the market to grow Broadband takeup. If you look at it in another way; other countries in Europe have twice the penetration rate – so at a macro level we should be able to double the market as we more than match these countries economically and educationally.
The figures issued last week did highlight that penetration rates were better where there were competitive frastructures available such as Cable and LLU; where Ireland is not well positioned at the moment. This would help on the supply side.
I dont buy the lack of demand argument as an excuse for low penetration level – everyone else in our economic is way ahead – we muct make the changes to catch up!
there’s now way i’m going to read 74 comments from the great and the good at 1.30 in the morning.
however, i am fond of the story of the mayo county councillor who a few years ago, compared broadband rollout on a par with the rollout of the rural electrification scheme in the 1950′s.
when discussing this issue, we should take account of the sobering 50 year comparison – it certainly puts it into perspective for me.
Demand is the main issue and the truth hurts some times. PC penetration is low in Ireland at only two thirds of households. Broadband is available to at least 85% of lines while demand is only a fraction of that. The plain fact is that a lot of people only want email and a bit of web booking capability. They are not backward, indeed many of them spend all day working on a PC with high speed internet access and don’t want to do the same thing when they come home.
Also stating that the national broadband scheme is inadequate because it will deliver 1mBps to people in rural Ireland while comparing it to people living in Paris getting 20mBps is just plain foolish. The same politicians who want people to be allowed to build anywhere they feel like it are the same ones looking for the magic broadbnad bullet to solve everything from traffic to unemployment.
The other red herring that gets floated around is that the state should have held onto eircom and we would all have 20mbps with huge takeup. The same govt that gives us a third world Dublin airport that cannot build a transport system, I could go on but you get my drift.