Plan to expand broadband warmly welcomed

Enet, the company which holds the concession to manage, maintain and operate the State’s Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) across 93 cities and towns, has warmly welcomed the call by Forfás in their broadband benchmarking report to have the MANs in Cork and Waterford expanded.

In its report, ‘Ireland’s Broadband Performance and Policy Actions’, Forfás also called for the construction of new Metropolitan Area Networks in the five National Spatial Strategy centres – Shannon, Ennis, Mallow, Tuam and Castlebar – that don’t have a MAN.

Conal Henry, chief executive of Enet, said that the recommendations of the report represented a further endorsement of the MANs programme.

Mr Henry welcomed the report’s assertion that “advanced broadband networks and services is essential to enable Ireland to support the smart economy” and that “the availability of high-quality broadband is strategically important to improving productivity, facilitating innovation and supporting regional development.”

Enet chief executive welcomed the report’s recognition that, “Larger centres included in Phase 1 of the MANs project, which have both a choice of backbone networks and large business customers, have seen significant improvements in communications services in terms of speed and price.

“The MANs have also spurred competition by encouraging existing providers to lower cost and improve service provision.”

He also reiterated the report’s call for changes to planning regulations to mandate fibre ducting in all new public, commercial and residential premises.

“Given the success of the MANs to date, if these further policy innovations advocated by Forfás were fully and speedily adopted, Ireland could rapidly move to the forefront of the global table in the provision of top quality, fibre-based broadband,” said Mr Henry.

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.