the National Broadband Plan: A Dream marred by Mistakes
Analysing the mistakes which have delayed the National Broadband Plan, leaving thousands of Irish people on the wrong side of the digital divide.
Credit: The Irish Times
Updated 29/07/18
Since the original publishment of this article, the National Broadband Plan has experienced yet another blow, plunging the process into deep uncertainty. The only remaining bidder, a consortium of Enet and SSE, has announced the withdrawal of SSE from the process. The withdrawal of SSE will undoubtedly make it more difficult to roll out the National Broadband Plan as the government will need to locate an additional source of funding and will lose the expertise which SSE holds in rolling out critical infrastructure in Ireland. The commencement of a successful rollout of the National Broadband Plan by the end of this year looks more like a fallacy every day.
As I write this very sentence, thousands of people across Ireland are desperately trying to access the Internet, moving from room to room, searching high and low, for a better connection. The sad reality is that no matter how much they splurge on optimising their home network, it will still suck.
It's a huge problem that is only going to exacerbate as the Internet's power to affect change continues to extrapolate. At present, over 542,000 homes and businesses in Ireland experience this agony every day. Let's watch Netflix? Drive a few kilometres to the nearest place with good WiFi. Let's establish an online business, pack up and move to a city.
Ireland is a rural country, with a much lower population density than most of our European allies. But that's no excuse, we pioneered electrification in a way that other countries aspired to. Surely we can do the same with broadband? I mean, we can bring high-speed internet to everywhere in Ireland, giving everyone the ability to flourish in the digital world.
The disparity between investment in urban areas and rural areas is having huge repercussions for rural communities, communities that now lie on the wrong side of the "digital divide". Would you like to live in an area where broadband is non-existent? We love to talk about the issue of rural depopulation and the abandonment of rural areas by young people, a lack of Internet access is an obvious cause of this.
The failure of the State to provide quality broadband to everyone in Ireland is a complex one, no one person or company is responsible. And at this stage, pointing fingers at those to blame only slows things down. Every minute that ministers spend bickering over who is to blame for the delays is another minute of no internet access for thousands of people across the country. However, it would be unwise not to look to our mistakes, mistakes such as the privatisation of Eircom (now Eir), for help in our future endeavours.
It's a huge problem that is only going to exacerbate as the Internet's power to affect change continues to extrapolate. At present, over 542,000 homes and businesses in Ireland experience this agony every day. Let's watch Netflix? Drive a few kilometres to the nearest place with good WiFi. Let's establish an online business, pack up and move to a city.
Ireland is a rural country, with a much lower population density than most of our European allies. But that's no excuse, we pioneered electrification in a way that other countries aspired to. Surely we can do the same with broadband? I mean, we can bring high-speed internet to everywhere in Ireland, giving everyone the ability to flourish in the digital world.
The disparity between investment in urban areas and rural areas is having huge repercussions for rural communities, communities that now lie on the wrong side of the "digital divide". Would you like to live in an area where broadband is non-existent? We love to talk about the issue of rural depopulation and the abandonment of rural areas by young people, a lack of Internet access is an obvious cause of this.
The failure of the State to provide quality broadband to everyone in Ireland is a complex one, no one person or company is responsible. And at this stage, pointing fingers at those to blame only slows things down. Every minute that ministers spend bickering over who is to blame for the delays is another minute of no internet access for thousands of people across the country. However, it would be unwise not to look to our mistakes, mistakes such as the privatisation of Eircom (now Eir), for help in our future endeavours.
Mistakes mean Delays, Delays mean Broken Promises
Credit: Switcher.ie
If you heard about the National Broadband Plan in 2012, when it was first published, you're probably shocked that it has yet to actually be put into action. Moreover, the plan is now entirely different than the one first proposed. It's now 2018, and the Irish people are more impatient than ever. The process has been a bumpy ride, with politics playing a huge role in its delay.
The National Broadband Plan promises to end the urban/rural digital divide and connect the disconnected in Ireland by delivering high-speed broadband to every building in the country. The National Broadband Plan is a long-term investment, securing thousands of business and people going into the future. Unfortunately, such an ambitious plan also brings great complexity.
At the beginning of the procurement process, there were three different companies hoping to win the government's contract and bring Ireland out of the stone age. Now, there is just one company, Enet, and its got a tough road ahead because of the decisions made between Eir and the government. Enet is a joint venture with SSE, the energy utility company. It's fair to say that Enet and SSE have got experience in rolling out critical infrastructure on a mass-scale.
Eir, the incumbent operator in Ireland, was probably best equipped to roll out the National Broadband Plan. Its monopoly and position as the incumbent operator would have minimised costs and maximised efficiency. You see, it is now inevitable that the government and Enet will be forced to access Eir's network. Eir owns the majority of poles and ducts around the country and will charge the government for accessing its network. It should also be mentioned that no other company has the same experience in the broadband market in Ireland as Eir does.
This brings to light a major mistake made by the government, the privatisation of Eircom in 1999. When the government privatised Eircom, it lost control of a critical part of our infrastructure. This mistake has cost Ireland a lot and its a lesson that should be applied to other sectors of our economy. We can't rely on private companies to invest in infrastructure in the way state-owned ones do.
The National Broadband Plan promises to end the urban/rural digital divide and connect the disconnected in Ireland by delivering high-speed broadband to every building in the country. The National Broadband Plan is a long-term investment, securing thousands of business and people going into the future. Unfortunately, such an ambitious plan also brings great complexity.
At the beginning of the procurement process, there were three different companies hoping to win the government's contract and bring Ireland out of the stone age. Now, there is just one company, Enet, and its got a tough road ahead because of the decisions made between Eir and the government. Enet is a joint venture with SSE, the energy utility company. It's fair to say that Enet and SSE have got experience in rolling out critical infrastructure on a mass-scale.
Eir, the incumbent operator in Ireland, was probably best equipped to roll out the National Broadband Plan. Its monopoly and position as the incumbent operator would have minimised costs and maximised efficiency. You see, it is now inevitable that the government and Enet will be forced to access Eir's network. Eir owns the majority of poles and ducts around the country and will charge the government for accessing its network. It should also be mentioned that no other company has the same experience in the broadband market in Ireland as Eir does.
This brings to light a major mistake made by the government, the privatisation of Eircom in 1999. When the government privatised Eircom, it lost control of a critical part of our infrastructure. This mistake has cost Ireland a lot and its a lesson that should be applied to other sectors of our economy. We can't rely on private companies to invest in infrastructure in the way state-owned ones do.
Credit: Open Eir
Short-sighted by the growing impatience among the Irish public, the government frantically searched for something that would deliver results in the short term. That frantic search resulted in the government signing a deal with Eir that would effectively remove 300,000 homes from the National Broadband Plan, and allow Eir to cherry pick the homes that it felt were the most financially economical. This was another shortsighted mistake.
Yes, it did mean that 300,000 buildings gained access to high-speed broadband much sooner, but it jeopardised the remaining 542,000 buildings. Of course, this was of no concern to Eir, after all, its priority is to satisfy its investors. The deal with Eir and the government forced the other contender, SIRO, to walk away from the process. SIRO's withdrawal from the process was a huge blow, the company is a joint venture between Vodafone and ESB, that aims to deliver 100% fibre-optic broadband by running fibre cables alongside existing electricity cables.
SIRO's unique method of delivering broadband undoubtedly minimises costs and would significantly reduce the government's reliance on Eir. Another important detail, ESB is a state-owned company and has vast experience in successfully deploying and maintaining infrastructure in Ireland. But SIRO deserted the process, claiming the changes made following Eir's deal with the government made the plan uneconomical.
As uncertainty about the fate of the National Broadband Plan continued to grow, Eir made a move that sent shockwaves throughout Ireland. Following a takeover by Xavier Niel, a French Billionaire, the company withdrew from the process. Considering the magnitude of Eir's existing network in Ireland, its worrying that even they felt the plan was uneconomical. But Eir was content with the deal it had made with the government, the one that pushed SIRO out of the process. Now that Eir is gone, it will be the task of the government to try and negotiate with Eir to achieve discounts to access its network. Eir will likely claim that this gives its competitors an advantage, which must be disturbing for a company that has seen years of unchallenged market dominance.
However, even after all this drama, the plan is still very much intact. In fact, the government has managed to secure additional funding from the European Union. Some believe that if SIRO and Eir had known this funding would be available to them, they may have decided to remain in the process. Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, expects the process to finally begin in Autumn of this year. When that happens, everyone in Ireland can breathe a sigh of relief. But it would be foolish to be complacent just yet, remember we've heard so many promises in the past, promises that were broken as fast as they were made.
Yes, it did mean that 300,000 buildings gained access to high-speed broadband much sooner, but it jeopardised the remaining 542,000 buildings. Of course, this was of no concern to Eir, after all, its priority is to satisfy its investors. The deal with Eir and the government forced the other contender, SIRO, to walk away from the process. SIRO's withdrawal from the process was a huge blow, the company is a joint venture between Vodafone and ESB, that aims to deliver 100% fibre-optic broadband by running fibre cables alongside existing electricity cables.
SIRO's unique method of delivering broadband undoubtedly minimises costs and would significantly reduce the government's reliance on Eir. Another important detail, ESB is a state-owned company and has vast experience in successfully deploying and maintaining infrastructure in Ireland. But SIRO deserted the process, claiming the changes made following Eir's deal with the government made the plan uneconomical.
As uncertainty about the fate of the National Broadband Plan continued to grow, Eir made a move that sent shockwaves throughout Ireland. Following a takeover by Xavier Niel, a French Billionaire, the company withdrew from the process. Considering the magnitude of Eir's existing network in Ireland, its worrying that even they felt the plan was uneconomical. But Eir was content with the deal it had made with the government, the one that pushed SIRO out of the process. Now that Eir is gone, it will be the task of the government to try and negotiate with Eir to achieve discounts to access its network. Eir will likely claim that this gives its competitors an advantage, which must be disturbing for a company that has seen years of unchallenged market dominance.
However, even after all this drama, the plan is still very much intact. In fact, the government has managed to secure additional funding from the European Union. Some believe that if SIRO and Eir had known this funding would be available to them, they may have decided to remain in the process. Denis Naughten, Minister for Communications, expects the process to finally begin in Autumn of this year. When that happens, everyone in Ireland can breathe a sigh of relief. But it would be foolish to be complacent just yet, remember we've heard so many promises in the past, promises that were broken as fast as they were made.
"Forget Fibre, Let's use 5G"
Credit: Agriland
Some people have suggested that the government should make use of upcoming 5G networks as a substitute to a 100% fibre-optic network. They believe that using 5G will minimise costs. But in my opinion, a National Broadband Plan powered by ultra-high frequency wireless spectrum would be a mistake.
To gain a greater insight into using wireless networks as a method of providing broadband we need to look back to 2008 when Three (before the company merged with O2) was awarded the contract for the National Broadband Scheme. This scheme aimed to connect rural homes and businesses in Ireland that were previously disconnected. Three established a 3G(HSDPA) RAN network in rural areas to deliver broadband. However, it was a huge disaster and a waste of government resources.
The network boasted theoretical maximum speeds of 7.2Mbps. When many different homes were connected to the same cell and trying to access the network simultaneously, things went downhill fast. The network was grossly outdated, especially when it was supposed to be utilised for broadband. Take this as an example, Netflix states that a steady speed of at least 20Mbps is required for just one 4K stream. It is clear that, at least in this instance, the National Broadband Scheme failed because it used a technology that was simply obsolete by the time it rolled out.
Fast forward to today and the government is targeting a minimum of 30Mbps with the current National Broadband Plan. Speeds like this will not be able to support our needs in the near future. People need to remember the rapid rate at which technology is advancing. We can't afford to look back in two or three years time and say that the speeds are inadequate.
The National Broadband Plan must deliver speeds of up to 1000Mbps, by running fibre all the way to the home (FTTH), anything else would be a gross waste of time and resources. These speeds give us the peace of mind that businesses and homes right across Ireland will be future-proofed for many years ahead. Of course, there will be some homes that are just too difficult and expensive to run fibre to. But that's no excuse, there's always another way- whether that's 5G or 4G or FTTC, etc.
The topography of Ireland does make it difficult to roll out fibre to so many buildings. But what people forget is that these same issues would be encountered if 5G were to replace fibre between the home and cell. 5G will offer great capacity, but fibre will remain more reliable and won't suffer the capacity constraints that 5G will inevitably experience as demand skyrockets. Furthermore, as 5G uses ultra high-frequency airwaves to achieve great capacity, it will not travel far. Millions of small cells would be required, which is costly. Most of these small cells will require fibre anyway so it's just more logical to run the fibre all the way to the building if possible.
The moral of the story is that fibre will play a critical role in the National Broadband Plan. Costly it may be, but fibre delivers the reliability and capacity that no existing wireless network can match. Just look at the failure of the National Broadband Scheme in 2008, a scheme that was held back by a wireless technology not designed to facilitate broadband.
To gain a greater insight into using wireless networks as a method of providing broadband we need to look back to 2008 when Three (before the company merged with O2) was awarded the contract for the National Broadband Scheme. This scheme aimed to connect rural homes and businesses in Ireland that were previously disconnected. Three established a 3G(HSDPA) RAN network in rural areas to deliver broadband. However, it was a huge disaster and a waste of government resources.
The network boasted theoretical maximum speeds of 7.2Mbps. When many different homes were connected to the same cell and trying to access the network simultaneously, things went downhill fast. The network was grossly outdated, especially when it was supposed to be utilised for broadband. Take this as an example, Netflix states that a steady speed of at least 20Mbps is required for just one 4K stream. It is clear that, at least in this instance, the National Broadband Scheme failed because it used a technology that was simply obsolete by the time it rolled out.
Fast forward to today and the government is targeting a minimum of 30Mbps with the current National Broadband Plan. Speeds like this will not be able to support our needs in the near future. People need to remember the rapid rate at which technology is advancing. We can't afford to look back in two or three years time and say that the speeds are inadequate.
The National Broadband Plan must deliver speeds of up to 1000Mbps, by running fibre all the way to the home (FTTH), anything else would be a gross waste of time and resources. These speeds give us the peace of mind that businesses and homes right across Ireland will be future-proofed for many years ahead. Of course, there will be some homes that are just too difficult and expensive to run fibre to. But that's no excuse, there's always another way- whether that's 5G or 4G or FTTC, etc.
The topography of Ireland does make it difficult to roll out fibre to so many buildings. But what people forget is that these same issues would be encountered if 5G were to replace fibre between the home and cell. 5G will offer great capacity, but fibre will remain more reliable and won't suffer the capacity constraints that 5G will inevitably experience as demand skyrockets. Furthermore, as 5G uses ultra high-frequency airwaves to achieve great capacity, it will not travel far. Millions of small cells would be required, which is costly. Most of these small cells will require fibre anyway so it's just more logical to run the fibre all the way to the building if possible.
The moral of the story is that fibre will play a critical role in the National Broadband Plan. Costly it may be, but fibre delivers the reliability and capacity that no existing wireless network can match. Just look at the failure of the National Broadband Scheme in 2008, a scheme that was held back by a wireless technology not designed to facilitate broadband.
Broadband is the Enabler
Credit: LaoisToday
The urban/rural digital divide will continue to widen if not addressed. In simple terms, this means rural areas will continue to be abandoned by our young people and the local economy will suffer more and more. But there's a solution to this problem, a solution that will connect the disconnected in Ireland and allow our economy to continue flourishing. The solution is reliable broadband, broadband that serves the needs of our people for years to come. The National Broadband Plan aims to satisfy these needs, to propel Ireland into the Internet age. The National Broadband Plan aims to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland, people who have found themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide.
The mistakes committed by politicians and private companies have delayed the plan. These mistakes have hindered our growth. The privatisation of Eircom, the deal with Eir to remove 300,000 homes from the plan and the ill-advised suggestions to use 4G or 5G as an alternative to fibre are all glaring mistakes in hindsight. But we can learn from these mistakes, learn that we cannot trust private companies to provide critical infrastructure and learn that such an ambitious and transformative plan requires careful attention to detail.
Eir was a prime candidate for the contract, but even the prime candidate believed the plan wouldn't be viable. That's worrying because Enet is the only remaining candidate, a candidate with the ability to transform our society. Eir's withdrawal means Enet will be forced to access its network, and the government will have to fork out money to Eir whether they like it or not. It appears, at least in some aspects, that the plan is a win-win for Eir, highlighting the failure of the State and ComReg to ensure a competitive marketplace and prevent the rise of monopolies.
The benefits of a mixed economic system in Ireland can be seen very clearly by looking to the millions of euro being poured into our communities every day. Telecoms companies such as SIRO, Eir and Virgin Media are delivering quality broadband to more and more people. Each day, the magic that is the Internet extends further beyond our urban centres. It's now the job of the government to extend the magic to the most remote of areas, the areas on the fringe of our society.
This Autumn, the plan is scheduled to start, years of work leading up to that moment. All the while, thousands of people wait in the dark, wait for the Internet to transform their lives in the same way electricity did.
The mistakes committed by politicians and private companies have delayed the plan. These mistakes have hindered our growth. The privatisation of Eircom, the deal with Eir to remove 300,000 homes from the plan and the ill-advised suggestions to use 4G or 5G as an alternative to fibre are all glaring mistakes in hindsight. But we can learn from these mistakes, learn that we cannot trust private companies to provide critical infrastructure and learn that such an ambitious and transformative plan requires careful attention to detail.
Eir was a prime candidate for the contract, but even the prime candidate believed the plan wouldn't be viable. That's worrying because Enet is the only remaining candidate, a candidate with the ability to transform our society. Eir's withdrawal means Enet will be forced to access its network, and the government will have to fork out money to Eir whether they like it or not. It appears, at least in some aspects, that the plan is a win-win for Eir, highlighting the failure of the State and ComReg to ensure a competitive marketplace and prevent the rise of monopolies.
The benefits of a mixed economic system in Ireland can be seen very clearly by looking to the millions of euro being poured into our communities every day. Telecoms companies such as SIRO, Eir and Virgin Media are delivering quality broadband to more and more people. Each day, the magic that is the Internet extends further beyond our urban centres. It's now the job of the government to extend the magic to the most remote of areas, the areas on the fringe of our society.
This Autumn, the plan is scheduled to start, years of work leading up to that moment. All the while, thousands of people wait in the dark, wait for the Internet to transform their lives in the same way electricity did.
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