Rural Ireland in broadband doldrums, says EU

Rural dwellers’ access to ‘superfast’ broadband is at a 25% maximum versus the 89% coverage accessible to those living in Dublin, according to a new EU study.

Almost 36% of Irish homes can subscribe to ‘superfast’ broadband, which the EU-funded study defines as a service of at least 30Mbps (megabits per second) of bandwidth. However, almost all of these homes are in Dublin. Nowhere outside Dublin has more than 25% superfast broadband, with many rural areas close to zero, according to the EU study. In Dublin however, superfast coverage is already at 89%.

Entitled Broadband Coverage in Europe in 2011, the study compares broadband coverage of all kinds across Europe. While it shows that Ireland does a good job in providing basic broadband to over 97% of the population, including 94% in rural areas, it highlights a much bigger challenge with the superfast target.