North Cork needs broadband certainty - ‘extremely frustrating’ for people
With substandard broadband and telecommunications effecting certain parts of Ballyhooly, the matter has some residents ‘frustrated’ and looking for answers as to how an improved infrastructure can be provided across the village.
A story in last week’s edition, highlighted how one resident of Lios Ard Estate had to stand outside her front door in order to get a mobile phone reception, while she described the provision of broadband, an ‘ongoing issue’ in Ballyhooly, as ‘so bad’.
Questioning National Broadband Ireland and senior officials in the Department of Communications in the Public Accounts Committee last Thursday, Cork East TD Seán Sherlock said that splitting townlands down the middle broadband wise needs to be rectified and certainty on broadband rollout secured. Noting the case of Ballyhooly, which the Deputy described as ‘typical of every small village throughout the country’, he pressed for answers on the matter.
“In the case of Ballyhooly, there is a housing estate that quite literally is being split down the middle in this regard. While we accept that the market is providing and that there is an entity called National Broadband Ireland (NBI), as public representatives who spend a lot of our time advocating on issues such as access to broadband, particularly in the current climate of remote working, we find it hard to understand why there is not a greater degree of interoperability or connectivity between NBI and the private operators to solve problems and ensure provision of services to people in villages. It is extremely frustrating.”
‘NOBODY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND’
Deputy Sherlock asked Peter Hendrick of NBI if there was any reassurance to people in Ballyhooly and every village like it throughout the country who want to get connected and have a right to be connected will be guaranteed access, that they will not be denied access in the times we live in?
Mr. Peter Hendrick said, “Under the national broadband plan, nobody will be left behind. For anybody who does not have access to 30 Mbps today that will be addressed under the national broadband plan. While that commitment was made, probably, ahead of most other European member nations, Europe is following suit.
The intent is to deliver future-proofed infrastructure across Europe.
“If somebody has 30 Mbps or between 30 Mbps and 100 Mbps, he or she is obviously on a commercial operator’s network, whether eir, SIRO or another provider. I would expect - we are seeing this in terms of the announcements that are being made by commercial operators - that there will be a transition to future-proof networks, those being fibre. Over the past six months, there have been a number of announcements by SIRO and eir in terms of their continued roll-out of fibre networks. The expectation is that by 2026, over 95% of homes will be connected on fibre-based networks”.
GUARANTEE OF BROADBAND SPEED?
Deputy Sherlock insisted that when the national broadband plan was rolled out, there was an expectation that there would be a more timely intervention in those areas where there are serious gaps.
“I refer again to Ballyhooly, because as far as I am concerned it is a ground zero for every village of a similar type. There was an expectation that there would be a realisation of the commercial realities, but also a realisation of the corporate social responsibility of ensuring that where there were gaps, right down to micro-level, NBI would be the responsible partner in ensuring that where public representatives like me make representations through our broadband officers in the local authorities or directly to NBI, there would be an understanding of that dynamic. And that there would be moves to fasttrack or, at least, recognise the fact that there are households wherein there are two parents working remotely and a post-primary or third level student, who are quite literally taking turns using the broadband such is the lack of capability.
“Mr. Hendrick speaks about an offering by NBI of minimum speeds of 100 Mbps, a 1G product and a new 2G product. Is NBI guaranteeing those speeds or is it, as set out in the small print, “up to” those speeds. There is a big difference between “up to 1G” and actually guaranteeing 1G.”
‘THE FUTURE IS NOW’
Deputy Sherlock noted that ‘countless numbers’ of citizens were ‘ deeply frustrated that there is no intervention that appears to be serving them.’
“Mr. Hendrick is telling me about something that is going to happen in the future, the future is now as far as those people are concerned. The pandemic has fasttracked remote working and they want results now.”
Responding, Mr. Peter Hendrick noted that for those who are in the intervention area, “we are guaranteeing the service and we are testing all of the retail operators to ensure they are meeting those metrics”.
Penalties were applicable ‘ where operators say they are delivering a speed or an up to speed that they are not achieving’, with ‘consequences’ for those ‘not achieving those metrics’.
LEGITIMATE EXPECTATION
While Thursday afternoon, Deputy Sherlock pressed the point of broadband rollout in North Cork with senior officials in the Department of Communications, where he stated that ‘ the fact remains that an expectation was created that a service would be rolled out’.
“A demand and an expectation exist for these services, which I think is a legitimate one.... I want to remind everyone that the people in rural Ireland are the people with PhDs, MBAs, masters, and they are working remotely across pharma and academia, and that needs to be understood. They need the access; that is the bottom line. They are professional people living in these communities and they have a legitimate expectation,” Deputy Sherlock said.
MAPPING SYSTEM
The Deputy also outlined his concern regarding the amber mapping system being used in determining who receives service under the national broadband plan and who doesn’t.
“I would like Mr. Griffin to go away from this meeting understanding that there is a little village in north County Cork called Ballyhooly, and I deliberately use the example of Ballyhooly because he will remember that name. There is a new estate in Ballyhooly called Lios Ard, peopled by the professionals I am talking about from all walks of life, and one half of the village can get broadband and the half other cannot. This is why I am frustrated by this amber mapping.
“We all bought into it and now it seems that this amber map has become such an arbitrary tool that we are going to end up with a situation where there will be those people who will have and those who will not all because of a mapping exercise, ultimately. I do not know what can be done about that.
“The question is: what can I tell the people in Lios Ard, Ballyhooly, tomorrow morning? They are representative of thousands of people throughout this State. What hope can I give them tomorrow morning that they are going to be guaranteed a connection?”.