OECD report - Broadband uptake rate worrying

Ireland is falling further behind the rest of Europe in broadband use, according to an OECD report published yesterday.

The country ranked 23rd with a total of 270,000 subscribers on all broadband platforms.

Despite Government and ComReg assertions that Ireland is rapidly increasing its broadband uptake, the latest figures indicate we are actually falling well behind at least 18 countries in terms of growth. The Government has bragged about an increase of 100,000 subscribers in the past year.

While countries like Iceland, Korea, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland have 26 DSL (digital subscriber line) users per 100,000 inhabitants, this compares with just five in this country.

We are not even coming near our own goals. The Government aimed at having 450,000 subscribers by June 2005, which means we’re 40% behind last year’s goal. The North, with around a quarter of our population, has 205,000 broadband subscribers, which is very close to our total.

So much of our current affluence is dependent on the computer industry, it is very disturbing that we are falling far behind so many other countries in relation to broadband access.