Minister calls for broadband prices to be lowered

Minister Dermot Ahern called for the price of broadband to be brought down further in order for Ireland to realise the potential offered by the technology.

The Minister was speaking today at an international conference on knowledge-based regions in the information society, in Killarney, Co Kerry.

Minister Ahern stressed the importance of broadband, labelling it as "the enabler of prosperity, education and social inclusion in the knowledge economy of the future". However, he maintains that the costs are still too high.

Minister Ahern said: "The dramatic growth in demand for broadband has not been matched by the level of investment that is required to satisfy that demand. There is, quite simply, a market failure.

"The supply side is not meeting the demand. There is no meaningful competition. The price of broadband is still too high, particularly for ADSL, and must be brought down further if we are to realise the potential offered by the technology."

According to Minister Ahern, the key ingredients for success in broadband are the three Cs - cost, choice and competition, and he said he will be continuing to drive home that message.

Under the Government's national development plan 2000-2006, an indicative €200m was allocated for broadband infrastructure investment, and a number of significant projects have been completed under that programme, with others nearing completion.

Most of this investment has been in co-funded projects such as the Metropolitan Area Networks in 90 towns and cities (using ERDF and Government funding to kick-start the broadband revolution), the rollout of ADSL to many areas of the country, and the creation of a 1,300-kilometre fibre trunk along the ESB national power transmission grid.