RURAL DWELLERS WAITING FOR FAST BROADBAND
For many people living in rural areas, the provision of high speed broadband is a case of ‘ live horse and you’ll get grass’.
As internet providers roll out super fast fibre optic broadband in the major towns, those living in smaller towns and villages as well as rural communities, can only watch with growing frustration as their own service becomes slower and slower, even through they pay the same subscription as those with superior connections.
While the latest quarterly report from ComReg states: ‘Broadband speeds also increased slightly, with the proportion of fixed broadband subscriptions of 10Mbps or more now standing at 75%, ’ many customers are struggling with speeds of less than 1Mbps.
As business and social interaction moves increasingly on line, this leaves those living and working in the countryside at a major disadvantage. From the grandparents wanting to Skype their family in Australia to the self-employed trying to sustain a business, fast broadband is one of the basic necessities of 21st century life.
This is acknowledged by both national and local government, with Louth County Council becoming the first local authority to follow up on the national action plan by drawing up its own broadband action plan.
‘ The plan includes a suite of ten actions and we have an implementation group with representatives from the service providers, Louth County Council and the LEO office representing small businesses and new enterprises,’ says Mary T Daly of Louth County Council.
‘We are taking a very proactive approach in ensuring that we get the broadband providers into the county and making it as easy as possible for customers to get the information they need.’
She is confident that most areas should have good broadband speeds thanks to the roll out of fibre optic cable within the next six to twelve months.
‘ There are areas of the county still waiting for broadband and areas with very low connectivity but we are confident that this will improve.’
Local councillors such as Peter Savage have been highlighting the problems of poor broadband for years and have called for pressure to be put on the providers.‘A key element of rural development must be sufficient investment in infrastructure in areas outside of our main towns,’ says Cllr John McGahon. ‘ The absence of high speed broadband in north Louth has been a significant problem in and is hampering job creation. There are a number of blackspots, particularly in parts of Kilcurry, Jenkinstown and Cooley.