Ahern rejects criticism of broadband

antwalsh

This was in the Irish Times today. It shows that the government doesn't have a clue and are in some sort of state of denial.
Anyone know anything about this Eurobarometer Report?



Ahern rejects criticism of broadband
Marie O'Halloran


The Taoiseach has rejected as "a load of rubbish" the report of the International Telecommunication Union, which showed that Ireland was 51st out of 73 countries for broadband roll-out and Internet access.

Mr Ahern told Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil, Mr Caoimhghin Ó Caolain, that Ireland was in fourth place, "behind Holland, Denmark and Sweden in the latest report on the Eurobarometer in terms of Internet penetration".

The Taoiseach said he was aware of the International Telecommunication Union "and wish it well with the development of broadband but its figures in relation to Ireland are totally out of date. Quite frankly, the figures given are a load of rubbish."

Mr Ahern also called for private sector companies to "engage in this area in a real way".

The Taoiseach added that the Government would "like to have far greater broadband penetration. We are not in a strong position and I do not believe we will be until we can get private sector involvement."

Many commercial and public sector companies in Europe were stung in relation to 3G licences. "They are up to their necks in debt and have not taken up broadband to the extent they should," the Taoiseach added.

He said that Ireland had a "world-class competitive broadband infrastructure in terms of international connectivity and the national backbone. Our system is state-of-the-art in that respect." There were local-level network deficiencies, which was why the State was financing "the building of metropolitan fibre loops in 19 towns around the country".

Mr Ó Caolain said the figures were based on 2002 statistics, and not information long out of date. He added that the report "places Ireland lower in the league than developing nations such as Peru and Croatia", and this was shown by eBay's decision to locate in Dublin and not a rural location like Athlone.

The Taoiseach replied that the Eurobarometer report dealt with statistics on a monthly basis and Ireland was fourth on that list.

Craptacular

Internet penetration is a completely different issue.

Bertie is basically saying that the report on broadband is nonsense because people all over the country have internet access which is him either missing the point to dodge the issue or displaying his ignorance of the issue to the populace.

shinzon

found the eurobarometer site here

http://www.gesis.org/en/data_service/eurobarometer/guide/index.htm

cant find broadband on it anywhere though, mightnt be published on it yet

And Bertie would you for once stop talking though your

ARSE

Shin

dahamsta

http://www.itu.int/home/feedback/index.phtml?mail=helpdesk

Hi there. The Prime Minister (Taoiseach) of my country (Ireland) has just rubbished ITU statistics on broadband penetration, can you put me in touch with the right person to discuss this with please? Thanks.

I'll pass the details along to IO if I get an answer.

adam

nahdoic

This is very worrying, and shows how ignorant our poor hapless Taoiseach really is.

"Quite frankly, the figures given are a load of rubbish."

Check your sources Bertie - hell just open your eyes - I hope this doesn't end up as a national disgrace for Ireland.

sceptre

Originally posted by antwalsh
The Taoiseach said he was aware of the International Telecommunication Union "and wish it well with the development of broadband but its figures in relation to Ireland are totally out of date.

Later that day Mr Ahern made the following statement:
"Howyis lads. Yeah, I'm aware of the EU and wish it well in its efforts to foster economic and political co-operation in Europe but they haven't a clue really. Do you think they've ever even been to Ireland? Well do you, punk? We're doing fine, leave me alone to have a pint in peace!"
At this point the crowd gasped as Mr Ahern followed his sense of ignorant smug self satisfaction up his own rectum.

Viewers at home:
Try it with any other knowledgeable international organisation instead of the ITU! Hours of fun!

... and no, if someone else had posted that I wouldn't have edited it. Moriarty and seamus may think differently though:)

star gazer

Things seem stuck in first gear at the moment. Anything even remotely difficult or contentious is fidged to such an extent that we end up baffled as to where the government stands.

Moriarty

Originally posted by sceptre
... and no, if someone else had posted that I wouldn't have edited it. Moriarty and seamus may think differently though:)

Wheres the fun if we cant have a little political baiting? Bertie and friends will sooner or later have to learn that its a tad tough to argue with plain figures. Sticking their collective head in the sand will only work for so long

dahamsta

Got a response from the ITU this morning. I don't want to publish the chap's email address, so if someone from IrelandOffline would like to contact me, I'd be delighted to pass it along.

adam

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Original Message

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From: XXXXXXXXXX@itu.int
Sent: 21 October 2003 07:48
To: itu@beecher.net
Cc: XXXXXXX@itu.int; XXXXXXX@itu.int
Subject: RE: [form2email] ITU Website feedback


Hello,

My name is Tad Reynolds and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have on Ireland's broadband situation. I've read the article online. It seems as if there is some confusion about what our data is actually measuring. Ireland is doing well in terms of Internet penetration but broadband take-up has been slow. However, we're expecting that to pick up as well because prices per 100 kbit/s as a percentage of monthly income are competitive and should spur more takeup.

I haven't seen the data where Ireland was named fourth in Europe but the list of countries given in the article neglects the European country with the highest Internet penetration in the world, Iceland. That makes me very interested in seeing how the data was computed.

I will be in Letterkenny, Ireland to give presentations on our findings from Wednesday to Friday of this week. It seems as if it couldn't be at a better time.

Sincerely,
Tad Reynolds

ednwireland

someon might want to tell tad that mary coghlan is the main speaker maybe he should have a word and at least put one of the gov. know nothings in their place

conference link
http://www.ittconference.com/speakers2003.html