Ireland falls behind three new EU members in take-up of broadband

IRELAND has the second lowest take-up of broadband in the EU 15 and has fallen behind three of the European Union’s new member states according to the latest figures.

Ireland Offline, the telecoms lobby body, blamed the lack of competition in the marketplace for the poor showing and warned that the country was in real danger of losing the broadband battle.

Just 8% of the population has broadband compared with the European leader, Denmark, where the figures are close to 30%. Estonia has almost double the Irish rate while Malta and Slovenia are also well ahead. Greece is last at 2%.

Damien Mulley, chairman of IrelandOffline, said there appeared to be little hope of Ireland’s position improving. “Unless something dramatic happens very soon we’re going to lose the broadband battle. We’ve been at the bottom of the league for the past 10 years and it looks like we are going to remain there.”

The latest survey showed Ireland was falling even further behind the leaders, with more people per head of population getting broadband in Holland, France, Spain and Britain than in Ireland in the past year.

“The rest of Europe is gaining advantage and becoming more attractive to new industry while 25% of the Irish population cannot even get a broadband connection if they wanted it.”

The reality is that, despite the market being opened up to competition, eircom continues to have full control of broadband either as a retailer or reseller to other telecom companies, he said.

Prices were the second highest in the EU for phone calls and line rentals while the broadband failure rate was a disgrace at 12%.

“The minister and ComReg need to take action urgently. We know from recent surveys that they are failing business generally and SME’s in particular“, said Mr Mulley.

His demand for greater competition was echoed by Steve Clausen, chairman of the European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) that drew up the report. He said that action in both Britain and France by the regulators which ensured greater competition resulted in far greater growth in broadband subscribers, and much better deals for the consumer.

“There is a clear link between regulatory action and the attractiveness of broadband services to the consumer. Too often the only choice is whether to take it or leave it,” he said.

Regulators from all EU member states meet next month to discuss how best to harmonise regulations across the Union. Mr Mulley said countries have interpreted the EU Directives in vastly differing ways and this needs to be challenged.