‘Bad broadband a disaster for us’
DROMAHANE HAS ONE OF THE WORST BROADBAND SERVICES IN THE COUNTRY
WHEN it comes to getting on the information superhighway, Dromahane is one of the slowest broadband regions in the country. It’s something that certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed by local residents, according to Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind).
Speed test data provided by comparison website ‘switcher.ie’ reveals that Dromahane has a data transfer speed of just 5.28 Megabits per second (Mbps), in stark contrast to Dublin which has speeds of up to 45 Mbps – almost nine times faster.
Cllr O’Shea said he has received countless irate calls from people, not only in Dromahane but throughout rural regions of North Cork, all complaining about dire broadband speeds.
“This is a disaster for people in Dromahane. So many people now work from home but, when the broadband is that bad, it makes it very difficult for this to be possible.
“In addition, the reality is that no new businesses will set up in Dromahane because the broadband service is simply not there,” he said.
WHEN it comes to getting on the information superhighway, Dromahane is one of the slowest broadband regions in the country.
That is according to the speed test data, switcher.ie, which listed Dromahane as having 5.28 Mbps, which is in stark comparison with Dublin which has speeds of 45 Mbps.
Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind) told The Corkman that he has received countless irate calls from constituents who are complaining about their dire broadband speed.
“Dromahane having such a slow broadband speed – as indeed does a vast region of North Cork – is unfortunately not news, as so many people living in the area know all about it. So many people now work from home as it’s part and parcel of 21st century working life, but when there isn’t high speed broadband it makes life unbelievably difficult,” he said.
Cllr O’Shea also said that the first thing any potential new business will do is look to a region to see if it has high speed broadband.
“The reality is that no new businesses will set up in Dromahane because the broadband service is simply not there,” he said. He also said people will not move to an area that doesn’t have broadband.
“What we need is Government and private investment in broadband as it is absolutely essential,” he said.
The National Broadband Plan, which was published four years ago, promised that high speed broadband would be available in 90% of homes and businesses by the end of last year. However, that has since changed, with the promise of 100% delivery pushed out to 2022.
At present, the Government’s National Broad Plan is attempting to address the huge lack of speed as is SIRO which is a joint venture company between ESB and Vodafone to deliver a 100% fibre-to-the-building broadband network with speeds of up to 1000Mbps for the first time in Ireland.