National Broadband Plan must prioritise rural areas – Harrington

Fine Gael Cork South West TD, Noel Harrington, has today (Thursday) called for the National Broadband Plan to prioritise rural areas, as they cannot wait another six years. Deputy Harrington was speaking after a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, where members received a briefing from officials in the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and the Commission of the Communications Regulation (ComReg).

“Rural Ireland cannot wait another six years to be brought into the 21st Century. The National Broadband Plan must be implemented as a matter of priority.

“I informed the Committee that there are many areas in my constituency that do not have even a basic Broadband service, while others in the country are now receiving 500 Mbps. I asked the officials working on the New National Broadband Plan 2015 – 2021 to give priority to areas which have never had a Broadband Service.

“People in the Coomhola Borlin Valley and the 7 inhabited Islands (Bere, Hare, Whiddy, Cape Clear, Sherkin, Dursey, Long) along with most of my constituents, live more than 5 kilometres from towns with a major telephone exchange.

“The Department officials stated that their hope that by the end of the Broadband Plan in 2021, every premises in Ireland would have 30 Mbps minimum. However I questioned the effectiveness of the Previous Broadband Scheme now completed, in that it did not improve the Broadband Service to those in the peripheral areas but improved the service to those who already had a service.

“I have asked the Department of Communications to concentrate their investment on those areas which have not had a service up to now. Priority should be given to communities that cannot access any service whatsoever and continue to rely on dial up, so that they too can join the rest of the country in the new digital age.”