Wireless broadband on its way to South West

DC

The latest news on the broadband front (well its the first I knew of it anyway) is that the South West Regional Authority (SWRA) - www.swra.ie - has the go ahead for a project to channel high-capacity Satellite broadband to regional wireless projects. This is a new European funded project with higher capacity AFAIK than current satellite broadband options (e.g. 2mbits).

The SWRA are looking to talk to people (companies, organisations) in the Cork County, Cork City and Kerry regions with a view to trialling the satellite to wireless broadband.

I spoke to the guy in SWRA responsible at yesterday's IT@Cork conference and made him aware of IOFFL. He seems keen to bring affordable wireless broadband to the regions, and is fighting the objections of the likes of €ircon and EsatBT. The aim is both residential and business. I can't remember the guy's name because I forgot to exchange business cards with him

Anyway, anyone keen to get involved, get in contact with SWRA. He did mention publicly that that's what he wanted people to do.

DC

BTW, if interested in trialling the wireless broadband in Cork/Kerry, contact IT@Cork on 021-2307005 and ask for contact details for the SWRA regarding the Satellite to Wireless project.

BigEejit

I know this is a bit like looking a gifthorse in the mouth but ....

Isn't satellite broadband laggy? .. I know you can download a linux distro etc in no time at all but what about surfing in general or usual internetty stuff (excluding gaming, I know that is virtually impossible with satellite) ... will this fact put off residential users straight away? ... do these people have a listing of costs? .. why are they using satellite? why dont they connect onto fiber for backhaul where it is available? (I know there is no fiber in the Iveragh peninsula for example, but there is fiber in Killarney, Ballincollig, Macroom etc..)

And finally ... where are they planning on putting the base antenna and sat dishes? ... how can you drum up support when there is no information ... maybe people would have a better disposition if somebody came out and said "we are doing this in Caherciveen!", people (in that area) would get behind it and they may not need to do any selling .. people would be begging for it!!(well, in Caherciveen anyway, no fiber there, but I know that microwave links are all over the area .. can they be used for backhaul?)

DC

Like I said, this is not in the final stages. People are invited to get in contact to get pilot projects in place. So, if enough people in Caherciveen want fast access, then they get together and approach SWRA.

Yes it is satellite before getting onto wireless and is not going to be suitable for gamers. It is however, a high capacity satellite which means the limitations on some of the current satellite broadband options (e.g. the one being resold by digiweb.ie) won't apply. For general browsing and downloading it would work great. The majority of net users are not gamers anyway, besides anytime I go online for gaming, e.g. Quake II, I get the crap blown out of me. Competition is a bit hot from all these hardened gamers who have had broadband for years. Along comes paddy who has waited for years for broadband and he can't get a look in.

The project is ideal for those parts beyond the reach of fibre. Cottage industries, teleworkers, etc. And the project has only just been approved, so no I don't have a lot of information about where masts, etc will be setup. I imagine they will be setup where interested parties can get pilot schemes up and running.