There seems to be a view about, promoted largely by members of Sinn Fein and Fine Gael, that the Mobile Broadband service that will be provided to Co. Leitrim under the National Broadband Scheme will not adequately serve the county’s broadband needs.

This might have been true 5 years ago, but these days, the development of mobile broadband is advancing far more rapidly than wired broadband, to the extent that mobile broadband will most likely the normal mode of delivery for residential customers within 5-10 years.

This makes sense, particularly in Ireland, where are network of telecommunications cabling is very old and where we have abundant space in our radio spectrum (because we don’t reserve big chunks of it for the military).

The cost of upgrading our network, particularly in rural areas where settlement is so dispersed, would be enormous, and by the time we completed it, mobile broadband will probably have outstripped wired broadband in terms of the speed it can deliver into a residential home.

Another advantage of mobile broadband is that it is portable: you can take it with you when you leave you home, or when you leave the country.

From that point of view, it would be ludicrous for the State to invest hundreds of millions of euro in upgrading the eircom network, particularly in rural areas, where it is over 30 years old.

Instead, we will extend the mobile reach in Leitrim through more masts and better signal management, so that Leitrim residents can avail of improvements in mobile broadband as they come on stream.

This is the same model of rural broadband delivery that is being used in the UK, Australia and the US.

To learn more about the National Broadband Scheme, go to http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/nbs

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The Press Release printed below was sent out this week.

This is a hugely important issue for rural Ireland, and I believe our MEPs should be doing a lot more to explain why liberalisation is necessary and what we can do to prevent it from undermining our postal service.

You can read more about what is happening at this link:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/post/index_en.htm

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Green Party representative in Co. Leitrim Garreth McDaid has called on MEPs in Connaught-Ulster to provide more information to their constituents in relation to a recent decision of the European Parliament that will have a dramatic effect on the delivery of postal services in rural Ireland.

The vote, taken on July 12th, and which was supported by Sean O’Neachtain, Jim Higgins and Marian Harkin, gave consent to an amended version of the EU Commission’s proposal to liberalise postal services in members states.

Specifically, the proposal will allow for competition in the market for letter post under 50 grams, which will make it increasingly difficult for An Post to subsidize postal services in rural areas with profits it makes in urban areas.

The vote taken on July 12th concerned amendments to the proposal which will delay the introduction of liberalization until 2011, and require member states to submit a plan regarding how postal services will be protected in rural areas.

Mr. McDaid said: “While the amendments to the Commission’s plans are welcome and necessary, I am very concerned about the impact the overall plan will have on rural postal services, and believe our MEPs should be doing more to explain the potential consequences.”

“I am also disappointed that the Parliament did not take a stand and require the Commission to include in its proposal more precise requirements in relation to the funding of the Universal Service, or require members states to commit to a minimum number of access points per head of population. The European Green Party voted against the amendments on this basis.”

“These issues are key for rural communities, given that An Post may not be able to fund a full service in rural areas after 2011.”

“This is the most significant decision that has been taken regarding the provision of postal services in rural Ireland in the last 50 years, and we need our MEPs to explain how its impact can be managed in a way that protects our service.”

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