Broadband for everyone? Sort of…
Communications Minister Eamon Ryan announced that a deal just signed with ‘3′ would mean 100% broadband coverage in all of Ireland. While areas of the country like Beara are covered by patchy services provided by independent operators providing wireless connection a comprehensive and reliable wired service has been a long time coming.
Reading from the official press release it turns out that the service will be provided by mobile dongles that rely on existing wireless cells. Although satellite links are mentioned in the press release experience from users in Beara suggest that, if it is satellite, the connection tends to have poor upload speeds and can be unreliable. If it is just on the existing mobile cell transmitter masts many homes and businesses will still be out of coverage.
Like many other services in the area we are often treated as third rate citizens. I hear with amazement at friend in relatively small towns like Tralee getting connection speeds of 7Mb/sec on their Eircom connection we are consigned to using a wireless 1Mb/sec connection.
Local unconfirmed sources have told me that work in the Eyeries area is starting soon and households and businesses in that area may have a decent connection ’soon’ but no dates have been mentioned.
It is very hard to understand why remote areas should be the last to have good access to this technology when we are the people who may well be able to benefit most but as usual we will probably be last to be served and then will be expected to pay the highest prices for the same services.
via RTE aertel, gov press release, et al
Previously published on Beara.ie
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[...] is the reality of rural life and broadband. Let’s see what Dave’s story is like in a year or two years or three [...]
I was lucky, when my fixed wireless broadband tanked at the end of November (problem with a relay they had to set up to bounce the signal into the black hole where I live… don’t ask). In the meantime my local exchange had been enabled for ADSL, and I managed to sneak in right on the limit in terms of distance from it.
I can only get a maximum of 1.7 Mbit/sec down, and a measly 200Kb/sec up, but for now it seems to be working OK. I was after at least a 3Mbit/sec connection, but apparently the exchange can only handle up to 2Mbit/sec
. Such is life!
Down the road we have neighbours who still can’t get broadband at all, in any way, shape or form, so I guess I should be grateful.
There are loads of households around here with no viable option when it comes to broadband (wireless is patchy, 3G is a joke, ADSL doesn’t work and satellite… well we all know that’s not really broadband, no matter how much you try to dress it up), yet they won’t be eligible for the National Broadband Scheme because according to the wonderfully constructed map this area is already covered by both ADSL and fixed wireless providers.
Can anyone else spot the flaw in this stellar scheme to provide universal affordable broadband to rural Ireland?
Calvin makes a very good point. I live within 3 km of a Broadband (BB) enabled exchange (Newport Co. Tipp) but out Eircom line isn’t BB capable. We use a 3 dongle but it is unreliable and when it is working the speeds are not what one would class as BB. Our area is not in the NBS, presumable because the local exchange is BB enabled