Broadband slower here than it is in Madagascar

IRELAND’S broadband is the 36th fastest in the world – behind countries including Madagascar and Bulgaria.

And experts blame the poor speeds on how we prefer to live in large houses than in apartment blocks.

Ireland’s position is the same as last year, and has not improved despite efforts to introduce a national broadband strategy.

An analysis of more than 160million broadband speed tests conducted across 200 countries revealed Singapore has the world’s fastest broadband, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Romania, while Yemen came last.

The speed test is based on how long it takes to download a 5GB HD movie. It would typically take 37 minutes and 28 seconds in Ireland.

The country was ranked just ahead of Britain, which fell four places in the rankings.

Expert John Kennedy, of the website siliconrepublic.com, said: ‘Part of the reason we haven’t moved is we’re still waiting for the National Broadband Plan to kick in.

‘It was meant to have been done by now, but it’s been a bit of a disaster. It was first announced in 2012 as a single top-down investment and the plan was that around a million premises would be brought into the digital age.

‘But since then there have been some changes. Eir did a deal with the Government where they would take about 300,000 homes off that intervention area. The remainder is about 540,000 premises. We’re still waiting.’

Ireland lagged behind 26 other European countries, 21 of them in the EU, as well as the US (20th place) and Japan (12th). It came ahead of 164 countries, including, Austria (38th), Italy (43rd) and Australia (52nd), according to Cable, the broadband, TV and phone website that issued the findings.