Previous governments did not fear major investment in forward-thinking schemes; do the same with telecommunications, writes Seán Murphy
The 2005 IMD World Competitiveness Book, which tracks the performance of 60 countries, ranked Ireland 56th for its communications technology capabilities and 46th for its broadband subscriptions. While chambers have issues with how this survey defines broadband, the fact that internationally respected institutions can actually rate us at such a low point in the scale for what is a key metric of digital preparedness is worrying.
The importance of a top-class virtual and physical infrastructure cannot be understated. PC penetration rates and high quality broadband connectivity are essential facilitators of both economic growth and social inclusion. Equally important is the need to improve the proficiency of ICT skills among citizens and SME owner-managers to drive enhanced productivity.
Our current telecommunications network is reliant on a copper-wire system that even with the development of new circuit technologies will soon be obsolete. Only recently one of Eircom's key shareholders acknowledged that there is a need for additional investment in the infrastructure currently owned and operated by the company. While enhanced demand, local loop unbundling and more competition may be sufficient to supply current broadband needs, the requirements of Irish business are set to rapidly outstrip the ability of the existing copper wire network to meet them.
The real issue is that we are not more ambitious in our broadband plans. To sustain Ireland's economy for the future, we will soon require a quantum leap in both bandwidth capacity and broadband availability throughout this State.
The attention and energy of those involved in Ireland's digital infrastructure debate must be shifted to focus on the strategic necessity for a national fibre optic network going -to every home and business.
As the range of broadband applications and services expands and their usage becomes ever more widespread a significant increase in bandwidth will be a necessity to keep ahead of our international digital competition.
We need to migrate to a new telecoms infrastructure and abandon the current copper-wire base if we are serious about building Ireland as a knowledge-driven economy having the best virtual and physical infrastructure befitting an advanced economy of the 21st century.
Chambers Ireland has proposed that the Government tender for the design, build out and installation of a nationwide fibre optic cabling system to every business and home in the State. This network must be able to deliver a quantum leap in bandwidth capacity and availability to enable technologies such as cheap and effective broadband television, teleconferencing and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Such a leap offers the possibility of revolutionising all forms of telecommunications and placing Ireland well ahead of our international competition. By tendering for a private operator of this entity, the State would also circumvent any possible threat from an EU veto using state aid rules.
Given our dispersed population and patterns of ribbon development, the current telecom network operators have a difficult business case to justify roll out of ubiquitous broadband availability around the country. We specifically address this issue by suggesting Fibre To The Home (FTTH) to 80 per cent of domestic and commercial premises, with the remaining 20 per cent to be covered by a wireless network addition.
In our estimation, the cost to the Government of delivering high-quality broadband in the 50-100Mb range would be approximately €2 billion. As part of this effort, the State should investigate creating a vehicle that would aggregate existing state-owned fibre and ducting networks operated by entities such as the National Roads Authority, the ESB and Bord Gáis, as a basis for the national fibre optic network.
This should be viewed in the context of the multi-billion euro multi-annual investment currently being undertaken by ESB to upgrade its network.
It is also worth bearing in mind that previous governments operating in much more fiscally constrained times backed similar radical and forward-thinking infrastructural investment programmes, such as the commissioning of the Ardnacrusha hydro-electric power station and the creation of one of the first national electricity grids in the world. When the government commissioned the Ardnacrusha power station it was criticised by contemporary observers for its ambitious scale.
However, within six years of Ardnacrusha's completion, Irish power consumption had tripled - stretching the once cutting-edge facility to its limits. Similarly, the Rural Electrification Scheme and the installation of the National Grid were also well ahead of their time. During the 1950s this "Quiet Revolution" spread major positive socio-economic change throughout the country. We have done it before and we must facilitate such a leap forward again. The development of a fibre optic cabling network has the capacity to be the quiet revolution of the next decade.
Our international competitors are already moving ahead with similar initiatives. In Britain, BT has begun the process of replacing its entire network with a new fibre optic network, significantly improving broadband capabilities. The new network is scheduled to be fully in place by 2009, giving Britain one of the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures in the world.
Ireland's investment in a fibre optic network is inevitable, the question is not how but when. The delivery of ubiquitous broadband and dramatically higher take-up rates must be embedded as a core element of our national development plan, 2007-13.
The sooner the decision is made, the greater the gap that we can put between ourselves and our competitors and, accordingly, the longer we can enhance the proposition that Ireland is a technology leader and the place in which to invest. The time is now. We must seize the opportunity offered by strategic investments such as this to maintain control of our economy's destiny.
Seán Murphy is director of policy with Chambers Ireland