How Ireland compares to the rest of the EU for broadband coverage

The Eurostat figures show other countries have also significantly improved access to high-speed broadband in the last decade. File photo

Access to high-speed broadband in Ireland has improved considerably in recent years, with 88.7% of the country connected to fibre in 2021, according to latest figures.

In 2013, just 1.7% of the country had high-speed internet coverage, according to Eurostat, while in 2019 the figure stood at 35.4%. However, high-speed broadband coverage remains at less than 50% in “low-settled areas” - more rural areas defined as having 100 residents or less per square kilometre.

According to the 2016 Census, Ireland’s population density was 70 persons per square kilometre. This figure was an average of 27 persons per square kilometre in rural areas.

Given just 45.3% of these “low-density areas” areas had access to high-speed broadband last year, it would indicate there is still some way to go in this regard under the State’s landmark National Broadband Plan.

Under the multi-billion euro National Broadband Plan, over half a million premises will be connected to high-speed broadband which will see households in all areas of the country having access to high-speed broadband by 2026.

The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered the rollout of the plan, with a revised target of 102,000 premises to be passed by the end of January 2023. The Government has said it is working with National Broadband Ireland to determine targets for next year which are set to be agreed later this year.

According to data as of 12 August, 17,220 premises had connected to high-speed broadband under the plan so far.

A recent parliamentary reply from Junior Minister Ossian Smyth indicated a number of measures being taken by NBI to “help lessen the impact that delays have had on the rollout”.

This includes earlier procurement of materials, additional subcontractors, bringing in additional NBI resources and increasing the rate of pole replacement and duct remediation per month. Mr Smyth said the focus would be on “ensuring that the NBI build programme gets back on track and is gaining momentum month on month”.

🌐🖥️In 2021, 70% of EU households had high-speed internet coverage, up from only 16% in 2013.
Highest rates in:
🇲🇹Malta (100%)
🇱🇺Luxembourg (96%)
🇩🇰Denmark (95%)
Lowest in:
🇬🇷Greece (20%)
🇨🇾Cyprus (41%)
🇮🇹Italy (44%)
👉https://t.co/120JgFD1QQ pic.twitter.com/OfZSctGf80

— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) August 22, 2022

The Eurostat figures show other countries have also significantly improved access to high-speed broadband in the last decade. Ireland lies in 8th place in terms of the proportion of areas covered by high-speed internet coverage. The EU average is 70%, up from 13% in 2013.

Malta, which had less than 1% high-speed coverage in 2013 achieved 100% coverage by 2019. Luxembourg, Denmark, Spain, Latvia, the Netherlands and Portugal all have above 90% in areas covered.

In contrast, fixed high-speed internet connections were the least widespread in Greece (20%), Cyprus (41%) and Italy (44%).

Eurostat said: “In low-settled areas, the most widespread coverage was reported in Malta (100%), followed by Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands (all 79%). Meanwhile, the least widespread coverage in low-settled areas was reported in Greece (0%), followed by Czechia (7%) and Finland (12%).”

Also included are figures for the UK. Having been at similarly low levels to Ireland in 2013, it has not made the same strides. In 2021, just 40% of areas had access to high-speed broadband connections. This fell to 16.6% for low settled areas.