Dail Motion on Broadband Provision
Posted on February 28, 2008 at 08:50 AM
A Ceann Comhairle
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion tonight and to support it unequivocally.
In the time allotted to me I wish to address a number of general
points relating to the National Broadband Scheme, The lack of
Rollout of Broadband to rural areas.And the need for this
government to adopt a Universal Service Obligation similar to
that which exists for postal and telephony services.
On the issue of a Universal Service Obligation, On February 7th last I received a letter from the Commission for Communications Regulation following representations by me on the issue of inadequate or no broadband provision in villages such as Ballyhooly and Glanworth.
These are villages which are typical of many villages and rural areas throughout the country.
I was told in that letter that Comreg has imposed certain obligations on Eircom but that these obligations stretch only to the rights of a citizen to a functional telephone line capable of carrying voice and data over 28.8 Kbits.
While that obligation might have satisfied the Ireland of twenty or even ten years ago it no longer goes far enough in terms of providing adequate telecommunications to the Ireland of today.
There has to be a USO. Broadband has to be enshrined in legislation as an entitlement.
The politicians of my parent's generation were making representations on matters relating to the provision of phones when no one could get access to a phone.
Politicians of my generation are making representations on the issue of broadband, when parts of this country are bereft of, what is now considered to be, an essential service.
That people of my generation are being told that Next Generation Networks are being rolled out, when people living beyond the Pale are still using dial-up and can only rely on that narrowband width is a joke, when the average modem for a computer is 56K.
There is a regional disparity that exists and it has a negative effect both socially and economically for those living in rural areas, which are not covered.
The admission by COMREG that a USO only applies under the EC regulations for the provision of telephones and not in respect of broadband belies a serious flaw in the system.
It is my view that every citizen should have an entitlement to BB provision in the same way they have entitlement to an operational phone line.
Consequently, I propose that a review similar to that carried out by the EC in 2005 would result in a legislative change that would give a voice to the thousands of people living in rural Ireland who are denied access to what is an essential service by today's standards..
The competitiveness of rural Ireland is at stake. And much mention has been made of the ECTA report in this regard. Companies will not invest or relocate to areas that do not have adequate bandwidth.
Moreover the broadband availability map found on the Minister's own department website simply does not reflect the situation on the ground.
In fact I would go as far as to say that the map is largely a work of fiction and so would many of my constituents.
As I stated previously to Comreg when they addressed the Regulatory Affairs Committee, I am probably typical of most people in that I am not a technophile, although neither am I a technophobe. I have a BlackBerry and access to all the communications I need, which I am fortunate that my position in this House allows but which is not typical of everybody.
There is a glaring disparity between those who will eventually be able to avail of the next generation networks and others, many of whom I represent in a mixed urban and rural constituency, who must still dial up for NET access.
This is an inequality at play here.
If ComReg's modus operandi is one which seeks to protect the consumer, it is incumbent on me to ask why there are people in rural areas who do not have access to broadband.
We have been told by Comreg that there are approximately 1 million subscribers, which represents in terms of subscribers per 100 of population, approximately 22%.
In so far as The National Broadband Scheme goes, COMREG again have stated to the regulatory affairs committee that it is accepted that an operator in a particular area might not be able to ensure sufficient coverage and that one of the criteria in determining whether an area is covered is whether an operator can cover at least 90%.
The national broadband scheme will then cover areas in which no service is provided from July onwards.
We are given to understand that COMREG have given the operators who are notionally able to provide a service until June to do so.
The areas not serviced will then go white on the map, that is to say that "white" areas on the map will then be covered by the National Broadband Scheme.
If one peruses the Ministers website (assuming you have enough bandwidth to log in), Broadband coverage is denoted on the map in Red.
It is inaccurate and has no bearing in reality.
I would hazard a guess that in June 2008 the Minister's heretofore mentioned Broadband coverage Map, will be subject
to the Daz effect, it will be whiter than white in areas that were previously Red.
And I bet any money that we will be arguing the same disparities again this time next year!!!
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