Broadband Investment Plan Will Put Rural Clare Online

I am delighted with the announcement by Pat Rabbitte of the new National Broadband Plan for Ireland, as Clare will finally have access to high speed broadband, particularly in rural areas. This announcement means that individuals and businesses will have access to a minimum 30 megabytes per second (Mbps), with more than half the population receiving 70Mpbs – 100Mpbs by 2015.
In this day and age, having access to high speed internet is a basic requirement for people in all walks of life, be they school children, college students, professionals and small and big businesses. It will enable the people of Clare to compete on a much wider scale, and give them access to information, products and services right across the world, bringing economic and social benefits across the County.

Public funds will be invested in the Plan to ensure that sparsely populated areas are included and Minister Rabbitte has committed to engaging with commercial investors for financial support so that speeds of up to 100Mbps are made available to as many households as possible in Clare. The Minister has also committed to providing the correct regulatory environment so as to remove any obstacles to private sector investment.

Ireland’s population is more broadly dispersed than that of many other countries so reaching the target will require State investment to encourage the private sector to offer services which would not otherwise make commercial sense.