Broadband rollout ‘as vital as electrification’

Ireland’s national broadband plan is as vital to the country “as electricity in the 1940s and the telephone in the 1970s” and needs to be finalised urgently, it has been claimed.

Cork Fianna Fáil TD Michael Moynihan said the lack of progress on the NBP was made all the more stark after BT unveiled plans to invest £670m (€747m) in rural communities in Britain with the aim of 99% coverage by 2020, in conjunction with the government.

Business lobby group Isme echoed Mr Moynihan’s calls, saying it was a source of “constant frustration” to its members in rural areas, especially with Brexit looming.