Department quietly drops commitment to 30Mb/s in NBP

clohamon

Since July, answers to Parliamentary Questions (PQs) have changed the standard boiler plate response

from this 02/07/2013,

"The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August last, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed services of 30Mbps are available to all of our citizens and businesses, well in advance of the EU’s target date of 2020, and that significantly higher speeds are available to as many homes and businesses as possible."

To this on 17/07/2013

"Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, I am committed to ensuring that all parts of Ireland have access to high speed broadband, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and businesses can participate fully in a digitally enabled society."

The independent's tech correspondent, Adrian Weckler, who appears to have an inside channel, noted on 17/07/2013

"What is emerging is that that [30Mb/s] just may not be possible........providing even half of 30Mbs [i.e.15Mb/s]....with a budget of €175m (plus €175m from industry)..... seems like a big ask"

watty

As predicated the commitment will be to do nothing, or at best ANY sort of Internet Connection (not Broadband).

Successive Irish Governments and Comreg consistently call anything not basic ISDN or Analogue Dialup "Broadband", by conflating fixed price access Internet with Broadband. They are not the same.

Mobile and Fixed Satellite are not Broadband. Mobile is uneconomic to use as Broadband as you would need 10,000 Masts, not 1000. Fixed Satellite is too low a capacity (the best is less than one fibre cabinet) thus too high contention and too far away (latency).

You can't change this basic mathematics by wishful thinking. Even if they did adopt 15Mbps, that would nearly be acceptable if it was "busy hour" Absolute Minimum, not an "up to" or "Average" both of which are useless metrics in specification. Any adopted figure will be an Average or Up To.

Mobile 3G is "up to" 21Mbps. The Average is about 3Mbps. But there is NO assurance of a connection at all! The minimum speed can be 0.12Mbps in 15% of connections.

The only difference with current LTE/4G licences, once there are an economic number of customers in maybe 2 years time, is twice as likely to connect, where it connected before, much worse coverage, minimum speed of 0.25Mbps and an average of maybe 4Mbps with an up to for less than 5% of connections of perhaps more than 20Mbps.

The Government needs to ignore Mobile except to ensure Mobile Data is not subsidized by voice and texts (which it is at the moment) as that is unfair competition undermining investment in real Broadband.

Nolars

When do they even plan this so called 30mps/15 rollout half arsed plan?

clohamon

Nolars wrote: »

When do they even plan this so called 30mps/15 rollout half arsed plan?

The mapping is due to finish in April 2014, procurement is supposed to be done by October 2014 and contracts are due to be signed by December 2014.

The mapping was due to start in April but didn't get going until July. So by its own measure the plan is already behind schedule. Why the mapping would take longer than one day is a question best answered by the Department, but the whole process seems designed to waste as much time as possible in the hope that the telcos will have most of it already done by contract time. Here's hoping.

bealtine

clohamon wrote: »

The mapping is due to finish in April 2014, procurement is supposed to be done by October 2014 and contracts are due to be signed by December 2014.

The mapping was due to start in April but didn't get going until July. So by its own measure the plan is already behind schedule. Why the mapping would take longer than one day is a question best answered by the Department, but the whole process seems designed to waste as much time as possible in the hope that the telcos will have most of it already done by contract time. Here's hoping.

Ya cynic...the dept kicking for touch not a chance right?

Meanwhile on the subject of kicking for touch, we can only give the dept the same treatment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhJOUMGhhwE

clohamon

Sean Fleming TD has a go at getting a direct answer to a direct question and fails.

To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide an update on progress on the national broadband plan; if the plan will be fully implemented in its original form; if the Government is still committed to co-fund fibre-speed rural broadband access of at least 30 megabits per second; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

.....the relevant part of the answer reiterates the position since July. There is no longer any lower limit on the speeds specification of the NBP.

Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, I am committed to ensuring that all parts of Ireland have access to high speed broadband, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and businesses can participate fully in, and maximise the benefits of, a digitally enabled economy and society.

watty

So they will do nothing ...

except promote the foreign phone contract sellers*

Again!


* Free iPhone --- Only €55 a month! (In my arithmetic that is €1320 for the 2 year CE mandated minimum life of the warranty of the phone, hardly free or good value. I expect to pay about €200 or less in two years on "mobile").

To reduce "landfill" and have greater transparency operators other than Cable or FWA should be forbidden to bundle Hardware and forbidden to sell below cost + 10%. It's a distortion of market and encourages waste.

clohamon

watty wrote: »

You can't change this basic mathematics by wishful thinking. Even if they did adopt 15Mbps, that would nearly be acceptable if it was "busy hour" Absolute Minimum, not an "up to" or "Average" both of which are useless metrics in specification. Any adopted figure will be an Average or Up To.

Mobile 3G is "up to" 21Mbps. The Average is about 3Mbps. But there is NO assurance of a connection at all! The minimum speed can be 0.12Mbps in 15% of connections.

Just noticed this response to a PQ from Seán Kyne TD. It dates back to March but it includes a weasel word (in bold) which wouldn't be put in without a reason.

The NBP also recognises that Government intervention will be required to ensure a minimum marketed speed of 30 megabits per second will be available in those parts of the country the competitive market will not serve.