Taskforce Report Announced

clohamon

Full report
http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/1AE24C27-40AD-4A73-879F-4536250C87BC/0/FullReport.pdf

Executive Summary
http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/5F4A7FB6-A60F-4900-817E-B388F38F884E/0/ExecutiveSummary.pdf

Report of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce and Consultation

PUBLICATION OF THE REPORT OF THE NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND TASKFORCE AND CONSULTATION ON THE FINDINGS OF THE REPORT AND THE PROVISION OF HIGH SPEED BROADBAND IN IRELAND

Background
In light of the importance of digital engagement for Ireland, both economically and socially, and the commitment in the Programme for Government to an ambitious rollout of high speed broadband, the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce was established with a view to identifying the legislative, policy and regulatory levers that would facilitate faster investment in high speed services across Ireland. The Taskforce was a collaborative approach between industry and the Departmental of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources aimed at assisting the Government in developing an informed and ambitious National Broadband Plan for Ireland, the objective of which will be to achieve “faster broadband to more places as soon as possible”.


Membership of the Taskforce
The Taskforce was chaired by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr. Pat Rabbitte T.D., supported by Minister of State, Mr. Fergus O’Dowd T.D.. Its membership included the CEO’s of the six main electronic communications network operators in Ireland, namely:- BT, Eircom/Meteor, Hutchison 3G Ireland (3), Telefonica O2, UPC & Vodafone

The CEO’s of four other operators (eNet, ESBT, Digiweb, Imagine) also participated to help provide the perspective of service providers with less market share in the Irish market. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the Telecommunications and Internet Federation (TIF) and Forfás participated in an observer capacity.


Report of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce
Five Working Groups were established under the Taskforce to consider issues such as appropriate targets for broadband speed; demand stimulation; the removal of barriers which are currently perceived as hampering investment; spectrum policy; and the role of State entities in providing access to infrastructure and services. The Reports of each of the Working Groups are set out in the main Taskforce Report.

In addition, the Report of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce sets out a number of key recommendations / requirements which the industry participants have identified and would wish to see progressed. It is intended that these recommendations will be drawn on as appropriate, together with responses to this public consultation, in the drafting of the new National Broadband Plan for Ireland.

To download a copy of the full report please click here.

To download a copy of the executive summary please click here.


Consultation on the Findings of the Report and the Provision of High Speed
Broadband in Ireland
The Minister has launched a four week consultation on the contents of the Report, the industry recommendations and on how best to facilitate the provision of high speed broadband.

Any submissions or observations should be made electronically to nextgenerationbroadband@dcenr.gov.ie by close of business on Thursday 31 May 2012.

Respondents should be aware that the Department is bound by the Freedom of Information legislation and where confidential or commercially sensitive information is included in their submissions the information should be clearly identified. The Department also reserves the right to publish the submissions received (subject to the redaction of clearly identified confidential or commercially sensitive information) as part of its response to this consultation.

watty

3, Meteor, O2, Imagine and Vodafone should have been excluded from the process.

What do they know about delivering High Speed Broadband? Or in some of those cases they only resell Broadband or have never delivered it.

Nor are CEOs the best people to talk to.

This was a waste of time. An excuse to put of doing anything or making policy. What needs to be done is quite obvious.

bealtine

watty wrote: »

3, Meteor, O2, Imagine and Vodafone should have been excluded from the process.

What do they know about delivering High Speed Broadband? Or in some of those cases they only resell Broadband or have never delivered it.

Nor are CEOs the best people to talk to.

This was a waste of time. An excuse to put of doing anything or making policy. What needs to be done is quite obvious.

A lot of nonsense about mobile and satellite delivering headline speeds of 30Mbs. What planet do these guys live on? Do they even read the terms and conditions of the satellite providers?

Another opportunity wasted.

Ask the wrong people what to do and obviously get the wrong answers to the wrong questions.

bealtine

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-21/item/27012-broadband-urgency-as/


The stakes have never been higher. Ireland's Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte today confirmed the National Broadband Strategy that will be published in July will contain capital spend (capex) targets for the telecoms industry and the Government, which will shore up any shortfall. But will this arrest a looming digital divide that will hurt Ireland’s economy?

Today the Government launched the report of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce that identified the hurdles Ireland faces in bringing next-generation broadband speeds to every part and parish of the country.

Let's be very clear about one thing - there is an intrinsic link between job and business creation and broadband.

While Rabbitte said every part of Ireland will have broadband by 2013 and will meet EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes' targets of high-speed broadband for every citizen by 2020, it is what happens between those seven years that will matter most to Ireland's economic future.

While the industry and Government have achieved what they say is unprecedented levels of co-operation, it is what the industry itself confirmed today that I find most worrying. According to industry, more than 50pc of Ireland's population will have access to at least 70Mbps by 2015.

That leaves at least half the population that won't have what will be international standards of broadband by that date.

Jobs will only be sustained in businesses that have embraced the digital economy and the most likely source of job creation outside of inward investment will be new business creation. Thousands of two-to-three-person strong companies in every part of Ireland will have as potent an impact on employment in the next 10 years as any other form of economic upheaval.
You snooze - you lose

Rabbitte today confirmed this is still a far from ideal situation. Quoting Boston Consulting Group figures, he said 3.4pc of GDP in Ireland comes from the internet economy. The European average is 6pc. The UK - which has 7pc of its GDP coming from the internet economy - is celebrated as the most internet-dependent economy in the world.

What Irish firms who have yet to even embrace the internet in any form - that's 21pc of them - don't realise is UK firms in particular are eating their lunches. And why shouldn't they if they are bright enough to embrace digital - if you snooze you lose.

“Adoption (of broadband) isn't what it should be," Rabbitte admitted.

I would counter that if availability had been greater and sooner, the picture would be vastly different. Yet for more than a decade now, digital technology has not been a national imperative. Notwithstanding Eircom's troubles and several changes of ownership, we built an excessive housing supply when other capital projects would have served the nation better and aggregated demand.

But that's the past. What about the future? Well, Rabbitte described the work of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce - which consists of policy makers and the CEOs of 10 telecoms players in Ireland - as a "unique experiment in partnership between industry and Government."

He said broadband growth in Ireland has risen from 475,000 seven years ago to 1.65m subscribers today.

“The industry has assured me that over 50pc of the population will have access to between 70Mbps and 100Mbps speeds by 2015. Seven hundred households currently have access to 100Mbps through cable and fibre."

But he acknowledged that the next category - people who will have a minimum of 30Mbps by 2018 - will be the most problematic to resolve.
Stimulating broadband adoption critical

“Adoption isn't what it should be - 20,000 SMEs in Ireland are not online and 21pc have never used the internet. The challenge for the taskforce is to make it easier to invest in the rollout of broadband, encourage citizens and businesses for better uptake and address infrastructure deficits."

The overall report contains 42 different recommendations of the taskforce. This goes out to submission to the public today and in July the final strategy will be published.

Among the pertinent stumbling blocks identified is access to existing State fibre infrastructure - ducts run under the nation's motorways for this purpose but access has been an issue - as well as the co-operation of various local authorities.

If there are local authorities reading this, I have only one question for you to bear in mind: do you want jobs to be created in your community?

If the answer is yes then your focus should be on facilitating access and deployment of dark fibre and next-generation radio towers. Allow this to happen and the nation can take meaningful strides towards reversing the 14.3pc unemployment rate - businesses in your community should see themselves as global first, local second.

Demand stimulation - also identified as a priority in the report. It will happen a lot more naturally if people are not only aware of the e-business and social regeneration possibilities open to them, but that the infrastructure exists.

Major projects like the 100Mbps connectivity for every secondary school in the country by 2014 will be invaluable in stimulating local demand.
Ireland could achieve a global advantage in the broadband stakes

The key difference I noted was the optimistic tone of Rabbitte, who said Ireland, if it rolls up its sleeves and offsets a damaging digital divide, could actually gain competitive advantage globally.

That's actually a different kind of language to expect from a communications minister in Ireland. Since taking office, Rabbitte has rarely shied away from the fact the situation is bleak and will get worse if not addressed.

I asked him if the plan to be unveiled in July will contain not only the capital expenditure plans of the various operators but what the Government itself is prepared to invest to support access in communities most in danger of the digital divide.

“Yes," he replied. "It will have to. There are (economic) constraints but there are priorities and (broadband connectivity) has to be close to the top of the nation's priorities."

Last October, Rabbitte said the State will be accessing the funding from the EU's €40bn Connecting Europe infrastructure budget to invest in ultra-fast broadband. More than €9bn of the €40bn Connecting Europe framework will be available for telecoms projects.

As well as Rabbitte, the members of the taskforce include Dana Strong, CEO, UPC Ireland; John Shine, deputy CEO, ESB; Paul Donovan, CEO, Eircom/Meteor; Robert Finnegan, Hutchison Whampoa/3 Ireland; Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO, Vodafone; Aidan Dunning, secretary general, Department of Communications; Minister of State Fergus O'Dowd, TD; Sean Bolger, CEO, Imagine; Tony Hanway, CEO, Telefónica O2; Conal Henry, CEO, E-net; Colm O'Neill, CEO, BT Ireland; and Katherine Licken, assistant secretary, Department of Communications.

Strong said the industry and Government have developed a "healthy and unifying vision" for broadband in Ireland, and as well as UPC's €500m investment in fibre, she pointed to Eircom's plans to serve more than 1m households with next-generation broadband by 2015. "There's a lot of investment happening in the industry," she pointed out.

Another member of the taskforce, E-net's Conal Henry, said the real test of the taskforce's mettle will be the move from analysis of the problem to the actual capex and delivery itself. "The stakes have never been higher. How a country competes in this century will be defined by the relative quality of its digital infrastructure and those countries that build first will reap a long-term economic benefit."

But the last word to Rabbitte: "Just like we had to find the wherewithal to roll out high-speed broadband to every secondary school in the country, in terms of gaps in our infrastructure we will have to back up our commitment with investment. Otherwise, this is not meaningful."

John Kennedy

clohamon

I can't see much in this.

The barrier removal recommendations are mostly about removing cash (amenity charges etc) from Local Authorities and giving it back to operators.

The spectrum policy bit is too late and the regulator decided to leave the party anyway because of a conflict of interest.

The rest is filler or speculation about things over which they have no control. (and a lot of repetition)

There's absolutely nothing about a plan or State intervention with real money.

bealtine

clohamon wrote: »

I can't see much in this.

The barrier removal recommendations are mostly about removing cash (amenity charges etc) from Local Authorities and giving it back to operators.

The spectrum policy bit is too late and the regulator decided to leave the party anyway because of a conflict of interest.

The rest is filler or speculation about things over which they have no control. (and a lot of repetition)

There's absolutely nothing about a plan or State intervention with real money.

The "plan" is due in June..

I got the distinct impression, from a quick read, that there is no problem, broadband is now available to all so therefore there's nothing to be done. Can't get proper broadband "no problem just get satellite" or use mobile.
Same old failed ideology as before...

clohamon

bealtine wrote: »

The "plan" is due in June..

Yes indeed it is. Do you think we'll get another consultation about that ?

bealtine

clohamon wrote: »

Yes indeed it is. Do you think we'll get another consultation about that ?

this answers that question:)

http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Communications/Communications+Policy/Report+of+the+Next+Generation+Broadband+Taskforce+and+Consultation.htm

clohamon

I think we're agreed the answer is no.

'The Plan' by the way is not something the Minister thought up, it's required by the EU Commission.