Tech Firm Asks Government To Close Gaps In Tech Access Between Rural And Urban Areas

Ireland's longest established Web Design and Software Development Company has suggested that thousands of jobs could be created through the rollout of broadband in rural Ireland. Clare-based magico.ie claimed that the Government, Eircom and the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) had stood idly by as the growing digital divide between rural and urban areas had resulted in a loss of investment, jobs creation and competitiveness.

"The Government should now look to ways of creating new employment opportunities at a time when job losses are being announced on a daily basis", stated Paul Montwill, Managing Director of magico.ie. He continued, "Numerous studies have shown that the development of an advanced communications infrastructure can lead to job creation and retention, increased business efficiency, improved education systems, faster industrial growth, increased start-up and entrepreneurial activities, and more productive research and development."

"The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey T.D., addressing a recent forum on next-generation networks, said that everybody should have access to high-bandwidth services and that businesses should be free to choose to base themselves outside the large urban areas. However, the reality on the ground is that up to 1 in 3 people on dialup Internet access cannot switch to broadband. Meanwhile, the 12-point broadband plan, recommended by the Oireachtas Committee in 2004, has yet to be implemented leaving rural businesses with limited development opportunities", Mr. Montwill stated.

He added that access to broadband services was now a major political, economic and social issue that needed to be addressed immediately.

"It is no longer acceptable for the Government, as well as Eircom and ComReg, to ignore the infrastructure needs of those on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Without increased broadband access, communities in rural Ireland will continue to lose out on opportunities to attract and retain businesses that depend on infrastructure. The Government, in its National Broadband Action Plan, should place investment in rural communications infrastructure at the top of its list of priority actions in the interests of the national economy", he stated.

Mr. Montwill added, "The successor to the Group Broadband Scheme - the National Broadband Scheme - aims to ensure that every home and business in Ireland will be able to receive broadband regardless of location. Such a scenario, however, is a long way off yet. While Eircom talk about the migration of urban-based broadband services to Next Generation Networks, businesses in rural Ireland are left to face the expensive and non-practical scenario of conducting business over dial-up Internet connections. Our technology remains significantly behind most other European countries, including new entrants who have not experienced the economic advantages that we have enjoyed over the last ten years."