Subsidy for broadband?

[Ronanr]

Two broadband questions.

What do people think of Dublin City Council's idea to provide free Wifi in the city centre?

Good idea or waste of money?


Also, I noticed on Prime Time last night that the new Australian manager of Eircom (the one who thinks the IFA is called the "Farmers Federation") said, although in not so many words, that Eircom would only upgrade the last few hundred exchanges in the country for broadband if they got a government subsidy.

Although it pains me to say this, I think we as a country might have to accept that we may have to pay Eircom to do this (the guy pointed out that the telecom company in Northern Ireland got a subsidy to do the rural exchanges).

Do people agree with me that this state will eventually have to bribe Eircom to give everybody access to broadband, or should the government continue to just try exhorting them to be nice, which seems to be the policy at the moment?

Or should the government get tough and threaten to fine them if their performance does not improve?

[Pidge]

What do people think of Dublin City Council's idea to provide free Wifi in the city centre?

Good idea or waste of money?

If it was done on a wider scale, it would really be a good selling point for public transport.

[jmcc]

Do people agree with me that this state will eventually have to bribe Eircom to give everybody access to broadband,

That would imply a level of competence way beyond Dialup Dempsey and the government.

Or should the government get tough and threaten to fine them if their performance does not improve?

Subsidise the exchanges and take hostages in the form of a series of financial bonds that will be encashed if performance falls below specified levels.

Regards...jmcc

[Jacobin]

The state should have never sold eircom in the first place. Not to mention that Ireland has one of the slowest Broadband services in the whole of the EU.

[Bobb]

When God made time he made plenty of it.
Dial up is more in keeping with our relaxed counthry ways.
Sure what would us culchies be doing with broadband?

[Jacobin]

When God made time he made plenty of it.
Dial up is more in keeping with our relaxed counthry ways.
Sure what would us culchies be doing with broadband?

Are you speaking for yourself or the whole country?

[daithimac]

give eircom the money and get it over with.

I live in a rural community and there was a goverment grant given to a company to install a wireless broadband service in the area. this they did the problem being that it seems to service only about 10 people in the area. the company seems to make most of there money from going out and doing signal tests then charging 40 euro to tell people that the service is not available to them.

as a side note there are many people in my area who work in dublin and commute every morning but would be able to do a great deal of work from home with broadband access. in the end it should pay for its self

[Ronanr]

Does anybody think it could become an electoral issue then?

[qtman]

Does anybody think it could become an electoral issue then?

It won't be, but it should be.

I live in a rural community where broadband penetration is minimal, but no one seems to care.

I don't think Irish people realise the implications of not having broadband. It doesn't register with them that children living in rural communities in India have broadband, and that it is these kids whom they're kids will be competing with for jobs in 10 years time. They're quite happy to keep their kids plugged into Playstations, while kids in other parts of the world are learning sciences.

In contrast, when ABP refuses permission for some fat cat to build a hotel, the whole area erupts into a chorus of indignation, which suggest to me that lots of parents would prefer their kids to be washing pots in 10 years time than doing Research and Development.

[qtman]

Two broadband questions.

What do people think of Dublin City Council's idea to provide free Wifi in the city centre?

Good idea or waste of money?

Great idea. Broadband is available in infinite supply, doesn't harm the environment, doesn't exploit anyone and doesn't store up problems for the future.

It would also put all those companies like Bitbuzz out of business, who insist that you buy an hour of on time from them when you might just want to check an email.

In relation to regional broadband supply, the State should be investing in 3G Technology. It overcomes the limitations of the copper last mile and the topology difficulties associated with wireless.