[30.11.2006 first posted on silicon republic]
Despite evincing strong growth in the past year, broadband take-up in Ireland still lags behind OECD levels. Two-way broadband speeds will have to increase dramatically, according to the latest benchmarking report from Forfás.

As of the second quarter of this year Ireland ranked 24th out of 32 countries, up one place on its Q2 2005 position.
Broadband penetration in Ireland was 9.2pc in the second quarter, behind the OECD average of 15.5pc
As well as considerable deficiencies in the household picture, Irish businesses are also behind the international average for broadband take-up.
Although broadband penetration in medium-sized firms in Ireland increased from 62pc in January 2005 to 71pc in January this year, the EU average is 88pc.
Broadband take-up by small-sized firms in Ireland rose from 43pc in January last year to 57pc this year. However, the EU average is 72pc.
In terms of pricing, for entry-level DSL Ireland compares well on prices in relation to the original 15 EU member states, ranking third out of the 15.
We also compare favourably for more advanced services such as 34Mbps 2km leased lines, which tend to be used by large companies. In this instance we rank 9th cheapest out of 20 benchmarked companies.
However, Ireland is the second-most expensive country for 2Mbps SDSL services out of 22 countries.
In terms of availability, three quarters of the Irish population have access to broadband services in Ireland. Comparative analysis ranks Ireland as second lowest of the EU15 countries for DSL coverage based on population.
Implementing local loop unbundling (LLU) will have a vital role to play in increasing competition, said Forfás, but this is continuing at a very slow pace.
Comparative analysis shows Ireland to be joint 13th out of the EU15 with Greece in terms of the percentage of lines unbundled. At the end of June a mere 5pc of lines were unbundled in Ireland.
Forfás pointed out that the lack of access to even basic broadband services outside the main towns and cities continues to be a barrier to enterprise development and investment.
It illustrated that countries with the highest broadband take-up rates are those that have competitive markets for the supply of broadband services. The international consensus is that competition between platforms is the primary driver of broadband take-up.
Therefore in order to increase competition in Ireland and facilitate product innovation the country needs to accelerate LLU implementation and continue to promote inter-platform competition.
Martin Cronin, chief executive, Forfás commented: “Broadband services are critical for the attraction of foreign direct investment, for the development of indigenous industry and the promotion of the knowledge economy.
“The increasing importance of services to the economy, particularly those structured around electronic transactions and information flows, makes it essential that Ireland has access to reliable and cost-competitive communications services.
“Two challenges remain for broadband policy,” Cronin continued. “Firstly, we must continue to increase the take-up of existing broadband services across all user groups, which still lags far behind the OECD average. This is important for business productivity and will also have important social benefits in areas like entertainment, education and delivery of public services.
“Secondly, global trends in internet usage by individuals, businesses and governments mean that two-way broadband speeds and capacity will need to increase dramatically.
“Ireland needs to emulate global leaders like Japan, Korea and Sweden in the way that they have encouraged high levels of investment in the next generation of broadband infrastructures and services required to meet these needs,” said Cronin.
By John Kennedy