Paralysis on broadband risks a deeper digital divide –
The Government must assess how it has reached this impasse of missed deadlines and lost bidders. There should be a full independent review of the tendering process, with a view to bringing other bidders back into the process
SIXTY-SIX years ago a large crowd thronged the parish hall in Kilsaran, Co Louth, on a cold evening. Minister Frank Aiken, the chairman of the ESB and the local parish priest huddled together as guests of honour for the big “switch on”, the moment electrification came to the area and the lights were turned on.
The crowds watched a TV set for the first time as snowy waves of reception came in from BBC Northern Ireland, connecting them for the first time to the white heat of technology that was then sweeping the world.
In towns and villages across the country, such switch-on ceremonies were held as the countryside was illuminated with one million poles driven into the ground and 80,000km of wire strung up. Dinner and dances accompanied the big occasion as the whole community celebrated a pivotal step forward into the bright future.
The scale and ambition of rural electrification took years to complete. But what it did have was real political commitment.
Rural Ireland is now faced with a new technological challenge, one just as pressing as the need for electricity in the mid-20th century. A digital divide is growing that is separating rural and urban and driving a wedge in the potential of this country. The core challenge is broadband and securing a highspeed internet connection.
For businesses, it is crucial to setting up, attracting investment, finding markets and expanding. For homes, it ensures families are connected to the key social infrastructure of the 21st century such as Facebook, Netflix and shopping online. These are core components of modern living, yet for swathes of rural Ireland they are out of reach. Some 542,000 homes and premises do not have highspeed broadband.
A recent National Competitiveness Council report says regional jobs growth is being stunted, with severe criticism levelled at the sluggish rollout of the National Broadband Plan to all regions. After seven years in power, this gross neglect is what we mean when we criticise the Government for having a Dublin-only viewpoint.
The withdrawal of Eir from the bidding process last week is the latest episode in a series of mistakes and broken promises by the
Government over the past seven years. Since 2011, it has set out three separate deadlines for broadband rollout and broken all three. It has been busier shifting the goalposts than driving for the line.
Instead we have had two bidders withdrawn from a drawn-out and complicated process, leaving the State exposed to the demands of the sole remaining bidder. When you bring the bull to the market only to find just one bidder, they set the price. With this record the Government has absolutely no credibility when it claims the latest debacle will actually speed up the process.
The Government must take stock and assess how it has reached this impasse of missed deadlines and lost bidders.
At this point, I believe there should be a full independent expert review of the tendering process, with a view to bringing other bidders back into the process. This will prevent a monopoly where customers will inevitably be charged non-competitive prices. It should and can be done swiftly and the Government must act on its recommendations rapidly to prevent any further delay.
That’s what the Fianna Fáil Dáil motion this week outlines and the Government must adhere to the Dáil vote on the issue rather than plough on heedless of recent developments.
Fianna Fáil firmly supports the rollout to all households and businesses of access of fibre-optic broadband capable of providing up to 1,000 megabits per second in download speeds (one gigabit). Fibre to the home broadband is key to bridging rural Ireland’s digital divide. Companies are already deploying fibre-optic cable rather than copper in the final connection between local exchanges and households/businesses in some rural areas. It is vital to futureproofing infrastructure, securing balanced regional development and maintaining the life and vibrancy of rural Ireland.
Fianna Fáil has taken our own steps to accelerate the rollout of broadband in rural areas, by bringing forward a bill that would make it easier for telecommunications providers to share infrastructural assets, such as masts and ducting. This would not only increase connectivity, but it would likely reduce consumer costs and prevent unnecessary masts from being constructed. This is the kind of thinking that is needed to drive on the rollout of high-speed broadband across the country.
When the TV with the fuzzy reception was switched off and the local celebrities headed off in their cars, the people of Kilsaran shuffled out of the parish hall back into a countryside that would never be the same again. We need the same drive and commitment that achieved that kind of transformation to roll out universal fibre to the home broadband to every corner of the country. Anything less will only deepen the digital divide that is already threatening to swallow up rural Ireland.