3.5 Broadband

Closed22 Dec, 2020, 09:00 - 12 Mar, 2021, 17:00

​​​​​3.5 Broadband

The county is continuing to show a strong increase in broadband accessibility.  Broadband is one of the key drivers in maintaining competitiveness and supporting socio-economic development. It provides a connectivity that has transformed the way people and businesses operate.

From 2017 to 2019, there was an increase of 505 premises covered by Broadband, from 47,650 to 48,155. Over the same period commercial broadband availability has increased from 47% to 62%. The availability of Broadband is becoming a prerequisite for economic competitiveness and there is also an increased reliance on broadband for communication and entertainment. The Covid -19 pandemic with its associated social distancing has led to a paradigm shift in terms of accepting remote work and social practices and these have become extensively prevalent. It is anticipated that many of the trends that developed in response to Covid - 19 will remain, potentially speeding up the reliance on broadband.

The National Broadband Plan[1] will be rolled out nationwide over the next seven years. The contract for the National Broadband Plan State intervention area was awarded in November 2019. Over the next four years, more than 90% of premises in the State will have access to these services, opening up opportunities in health, agriculture, education, rural development and tourism. A mobile broadband taskforce was established to identify solutions to broadband and mobile phone coverage deficits and to investigate how better services can be provided to consumers prior to the NBP rollout.  See Figure 3.2 for the intervention areas in Co. Kilkenny. 

 

[1] https://nbi.ie/

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