Tag Archives: Broadband

THE possibility of new businesses setting up in Kilrush or of current businesses expanding is being stymied because of the lack of acceptable broadband connectivity. Kilrush Chamber of Commerce president, Mairead O’Brien, who, along with her husband, is self-employed, and IT specialist, Alan Howard have said the town is standing still economically because of broadband issues. “There are probably up to 100 businesses in Kilrush, from retail to people working from home. We have two small businesses in my house alone but we can’t send or receive invoices. It’s as petty as that. I’m not talking about Netflix. We’re not talking about the domestic issue of the lack of broadband. We’re talking about the nuts and bolts of not being able to receive important invoices or price lists. “Doing business on the internet is just not working. There is not enough broadband connectivity. We’re bumped up on the broadband upgrade list, we’re bumped down on the list but we’re not …

Tourism businesses are losing “invaluable” free publicity because of the poor phone and broadband coverage in the county. According to John Connolly of Hazel Mountain Chocolate, “Social media can generate such momentum behind a business” and poor internet access prohibits people from “advertising your business for free”. Mr Connolly added that, for many businesses, strong broadband is necessary from a basic operational level. “We have had every provider in the country come to us and no one was able to offer us guaranteed internet. We ended up using satellite broadband, which is just fast enough for the visa machine, if you stand in the right place in room. Last year we went to a cocoa plantation in Costa Rica; they had broadband and phone coverage and they didn’t even have a flushing toilet,” he said. The phone coverage is so bad in some parts of the county that a local priest asked one mobile operator if erecting a mast on …

A KILNAMONA-based couple, who operate a tourism business, have to run it from a variety of cafés in Ennis, due to the lack of broadband where they live. Henry Wilkinson has told The Clare Champion that they would not have moved to Kilnamona had they been aware that broadband access was an issue. “Had we known back in December that there was no broadband in the area, we would not have taken a year’s lease. My fiancée and I recently moved to the area to be closer to her parents. We run our own tourism-based business and urgently need access to fast, reliable broadband,” Mr Wilkinson explained. The absence of broadband has resulted in the couple having to work from Ennis. “Over the past four months, we have been making daily trips to Ennis to sit in coffee shops and try and run our business, which is expensive and not ideal. Where do we go from here? Will broadband be …

Online national and county maps that identify the homes, businesses and schools where commercial providers will deliver high-speed broadband access by the end of 2016, have been published today (Monday). At the launch in Doolin, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Alex White said that the State would invest in all the remaining areas to ensure that every home, school and business in Ireland has access to high-speed broadband, regardless of where it is located. The maps, which allow the public to identify their own premises to see whether their high-speed broadband will be provided by a commercial operator or through State intervention, can be accessed at www.broadband.gov.ie. The website also carries county-by-county statistics on planned broadband coverage. Minister White said, “The delivery of high quality broadband is about ensuring that our citizens in rural Ireland have the same life chances, and the same access to information, culture, ideas, social interaction and opportunity that people in urban areas can enjoy.” …

The Government has agreed to Fianna Fáil’s request for a full Dáil debate on the major broadband problem facing rural Ireland, an issue that is of serious concern in many areas of Clare. Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Communications in the Seanad Senator Mark Daly has welcomed this but called on the Government to stop paying lip-service to the roll-out of rural broadband. “I welcome the fact that the Minister for Communications, Alex White, has agreed to Fianna Fáil’s request for a full Dáil and Seanad debate on the major problems with broadband in rural Ireland. “The Government has repeatedly committed to delivering a quality broadband service to all areas of the country. This was reaffirmed before May’s local elections where the Government promised to deliver high quality broadband to all areas. “The Government then cynically scrapped the National Broadband Scheme; which provided basic broadband services to rural users through a subsidy to providers; after the local elections. It will directly …

Senator Tony Mulcahy has called on Eircom and other fibre broadband providers not to increase internet charges after Commission for Communications Regulation (Comreg) said rural internet users are not paying the full cost of broadband provision. Senator Mulcahy, who is Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, expressed his concern following a report byIrelandOffline which outlines how urban broadband customers are subsidising rural users and that Eircom may apply to the regulator to raise its rural broadband prices to recover rural costs. He has pledged to contact COMREG and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Alex White, requesting them to discourage operators from introducing price hikes. “The quality of fibre broadband services in rural parts of County Clare is generally well below that of what is provided in larger towns such as Kilrush, Shannon and Ennis,” he observed.

Killaloe local election candidate and Bodyke resident, Liam Wiley has reacted angrily to comments made by Clare Labour Party TD, Michael McNamara on the provision of rural broadband in County Clare. Reacting to comments made by Deputy McNamara last week, where he announced that Eircom exchanges in Feakle and Scariff would be upgraded in the next 12 to 18 months, Mr Wiley said it was “completely unacceptable” to leave the people of East Clare waiting 18 months. “I find it amazing that Deputy McNamara can say with a straight face that it will take as much as 18 months to upgrade the rural broadband network in County Clare. What are the people of Clare supposed to do in the meantime? They have to deal with extremely slow broadband and the best they can hope for is quicker download speeds in 2015? “This is completely unacceptable and reflects just how out of touch the Labour Party has become with the problems …