800k on broadband, including 90k on mobile broadband. Means we are yadda on OCED table EXCEPT OECD says no to mobile broadband because it’s shit. But why let that get in the way of a good stat that incorrectly boosts our rankings? In fairness I don’t expect Bertie to know this, that’s Lying Ryan’s job and he does it so well. Bertie’s just cogged his default answers. People really are harping on a lot about broadband of late. There’s another special about it on Prime Time tomorrow night as it happens. Ryan is on as is Shane Ross.
Edit: Oh yes and he mentions the National Broadband Scam Scheme saying it will sort the last 10%. What about the other 10% Bertie? The Department seems to have ignored that figure. The National Broadband Scheme is flawed.
Not to mention that chances are the majority of people with “mobile broadband” also have home broadband and office broadband already.
Actually most people I know with MBB don’t have a fixed connection.
Damien, I am interested in your comment about the OECD and MBB. Where did that come from?
The OECD in their report don’t use mobile broadband subscriptions in their stats. They gave an exception to the Czech republic though. Even ComReg made note of this in a report that compared us to the OECD percentage but they still threw in mobile broadband stats anyway.
I wonder why. I am involved in analysis of MBB roll outs at the moment – HSPA and HSPA vs WiMAx at the moment. I would like to know why the OECD are excluding these technologies.
hey Damien —
I’m curious what you think of this:
http://www.sarahcarey.ie/2008/02/11/how-to-solve-our-broadband-fiasco/#comment-214774
‘The [Sustainable Energy Ireland] Pellet Boiler Grant Scheme ran over budget by 16.5 Million so Eamo robbed the 10 Million allocated to the National Broadband Scheme to make up the shortfall, as the National Broadband Scheme assesment process was proving more complicated than originally anticipated and the funds would not be spent’
do you know, is this true? did the govt take from Broadband funding to shore up SEI? that’s pretty shocking behaviour, too, IMO.
Yes that’s true.
I think broadband for all is hopeless and a diversion of resources from a strategic focus that needs to be on those places where other support services exist. People need to know that if they go outside of those places, they would know what they would not be getting–street lighting, community sewerage, even clean power is going to be difficult. I have lived in those places over the last decade in Ireland.
You won’t get broadband everywhere so the 100 per cent goal is misguided. Even developed countries like the US have great black spots for broadband. When I travel to the US on holidays, I hope to find those black spots so I can truly escape. And some people want that escape in backwater weekend accommodation in Ireland so why push broadband services into those areas? Why not decide on broadband centres, service those centres and let people know that if they opt to live remotely, they may get postcards instead of email.
With that kind of focus you could get poor copper replaced in city centres, you could spotlight dark fibre between large towns and you could get faster consensus from business leaders without getting wrapped up in changing government schemes.
By the way, I consistently get strong broadband signals–a megabit a second downstream and often the same upstream–from O2-Ireland. I’ve tested faster speeds on O2 (faster than three megabits per second) so I would be slow to criticise the wireless providers’ capabilities inside built-up areas in many parts of Ireland.
i have an FWA connection at home and use a mobile bb connection while commuting and at the place I stay in when in Dublin. there’s also bb available to me in the office.
so Bertie would be counting me thrice.
I’m once, twice, three times a googler.
[…] suddenly have 120k people on mobile broadband? Didn’t you tell Bertie 90k just the other day and he said it on YouTube? Who to believe, who to believe. Not […]