[Westmeath Examiner]Broadband for Kinnegad under threat

viking

From the Westmeath Examiner:

Broadband for Kinnegad under threat

The planned wireless broadband service for Kinnegad was this week in jeopardy after the community group, who were awarded funding for the technology, threatened to pull out.

Speaking to the Examiner, the Broadband4Kinnegad group accused Westmeath County Council of delaying the process by not consenting to have the technology installed on the water tower in Kinnegad. The Council has denied this.

Mr Gareth Pelly, co-ordinator of the Broadband4Kinnegad campaign issued an ultimatum to Westmeath County Council via the Examiner.

"If they cannot grant permission for the service to be installed by the 19th November 2004, then I will have no choice but to end the campaign as I no longer have the time or the patience to endure these delays any further" he threatened.

"This will mean that GBS (Group Broadband Scheme) funding for Kinnegad cannot go ahead as the participation of a community group is required by the Department of Communications for the release of grant funds" explained Mr Pelly. Under the Government's Broadband Action Plan, MANs are being built for towns with a population of 1,500 or more, as has been already achieved for Mullingar and Athlone. However, to cater for smaller towns, the Government is also operating a GBS scheme.

The Government invites applications for funding under the GBS every six months. Since August 2003, the Broadband4Kinnegad campaign has campaigned for "Always-on, high-speed" internet access for the town. In July of this year, Kinnegad was awarded €32,000 funding for the scheme. Modelled on the Group Water Scheme, the GBS scheme encourages local communities to implement their own broadband technology in partnership with service providers. The Government will provide 55% of capital funding.

Broadband4Kinnegad had lodged its application for funding in conjunction with ISP, Last Mile Wireless. The company is a proven broadband provider that already has an identical scheme up and running in Daingean, Co. Offally and plans for another in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon.

Mr. Pelly claimed that Last Mile Wireless began discussions with the Council shortly after the funding was awarded to put the necessary equipment in place. Although, such development is exempt from planning permission, some formal agreement must be reached to place the technology on a public structure. "Now, almost 5 months later, Westmeath County Council have still not given permission for broadband to be installed in Kinnegad even though Last Mile Wireless have provided the County Council with all the requested information including evidence of planning exemptions" argued Mr. Pelly.

Speaking to the Examiner this week, Mr. Hugh O'Reilly, senior executive officer of Corporate Affairs in Westmeath County Council, denied that it was responsible for any delay in introducing the service. He claimed that Last Mile Wireless first met with the Council in relation to the issue in late September.

"The initial meeting with Last Mile Wireless was held in late September 2004 where the provision of wireless services in a number of areas of the County was discussed and Westmeath County Council agreed in principle to support the project" stated Mr O'Reilly.

He added that in October the company requested to install the necessary broadband communications equipment on a number of its water supply towers, including Kinnegad, to create a transmission network for Co. Westmeath.

"Following further discussions with Last Mile Wireless, the Council sought details of the proposed installations in order to assess the impact of this equipment on the operation and maintenance of the critical water supply network. Last Mile Wireless are due to submit these details at a meeting scheduled for Monday of this week" contended Mr O'Reilly.

He stressed that the Council is committed to facilitating the rollout of broadband technology throughout the county. "Westmeath County Council will continue to promote and facilitate the roll-out of broadband infrastructure in Co. Westmeath" insisted Mr O'Reilly. However, a source close to the campaign claimed that the delay centered on an agreement being reached between Westmeath County Council and Last Mile Wireless on connecting a number of Council offices in the Kinnegad, Kilbeggan area. Meanwhile, Mr. Pelly said that it will take up to two days to install the necessary technology in Kinnegad once the agreement has been reached.

Once in place, broadband will be immediately available to businesses and homes in the vicinity of Kinnegad. Customers will be liable for an initial connection fee of €100 after which the service will cost a basic €39.99 per month. However, Mr. Pelly stands firm on his ultimatum to the Council to strike an agreement with Last Mile Wireless before November 19th.

In the event of no agreement being reached, he said "I will resign myself to the fact that the campaign has failed and that Kinnegad will not receive an essential broadband service any time soon. The people of Kinnegad can thank Westmeath County Council and their unnecesary and protracted delays for their to provide an essential service to our community."

Viking

DonegalMan

Fair play to you, Viking, you've put up with this crap for long enough.

From what I see and hear, Westmeath County Council - and probably others - need to learn about the importance of Broadband and work to facilitate its implementation instead of f**king about with bureaucratic approaches that were ok in the past.

jwt

Mr. Hugh O'Reilly, senior executive officer of Corporate Affairs in Westmeath County Council, denied that it was responsible for any delay in introducing the service. He claimed that Last Mile Wireless first met with the Council in relation to the issue in late September.

So either Viking, Last Mile or Mr O'Reilly are lying.

The bad news for Mr O'Reilly is that his dept. are subject to FOI requests!

So lets see whose telling porkies shall we?


And how come Last Mile didn't have a comment in this article?

John

dahamsta

jwt wrote:

And how come Last Mile didn't have a comment in this article?

That's the first thing I thought too, and they struck me as straight guys when I met them at the AGM. What about it LMW?

viking

I don't know if the journalist who wrote the piece contacted them or not.

Viking