Uncategorized, Feedback Friday
Feedback Friday: Pressieport.ie steps up
So the first company in our brand new feature “Feedback Friday” is Pressieport.ie who are also one of the newest members of the IIA. The idea with Feedback Friday is to allow members of the IIA to seek feedback on their site and in fact Fred from Pressieport.ie describes what he hopes to get from it himself:
Pressieport.ie launched in November 2007 and then re-launched in June 2008 on a brand new platform (you live, you learn). We focus on trying to provide our customers with a different and original range of products/gifts than might generally be available on the High Street in Ireland and we pride ourselves on our Customer Service and the fact that we deliver to your door overnight anywhere in Ireland. In addition to this we provide a gift-wrapping service and personalised greeting card service. We are constantly looking for and working on improvements, but being in the thick of it means that sometimes it can be difficult to have objective or detached opinions about different aspects of the site. It is for this reason that we would really welcome feedback and suggestions from fellow IIA members and readers of this blog whether it is negative or positive.
The site can be viewed at www.pressieport.ie. You can leave comments below or pingback from your own blog. And, if you don’t mind, a few pointers in order to make this a pleasant and constructive experience for all:
- We are looking for feedback on the site: on its navigation, usability, accessibility, design, optimisation and any other nuts and bolts aspects that you in your own specialised expert field might notice.
- Tell us what you like about the site, not neccesarily the service or goods Pressieport are offering.
- Tell us what you don’t like about the site and please try to express exactly what it is that irks you. “I don’t like the photographs.” is not as helpful as “I think photographs that give a better idea of the recommended usage of the product would be better.” (A hypothetical example :))
- Make sure you let us know where you blogged your contribution to Feedback Friday.
- Have a look at this wiki from Wikihow.com which I think sums feedback up generally.
- If you can ‘t say anything nicely maybe you should go for elocution/ creative writing lessons 🙂
Thanks!
Uncategorized
Data Protection Commissioner announces Online Video Clip Competition
On the occasion of the 3rd Council of Europe Data Protection Day, Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes today launched two new initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of data protection rights and obligations amongst the public and those holding personal data.
The Commissioner is publishing a new data protection audit resource for organisations. It is hoped that the new resource will provide organisations holding personal data with a simple and clear basis to conduct a self-assessment of their compliance with their obligations under the Data Protection Acts. The Commissioner noted that "over the past year we have had a large number of very high profile losses of personal data and other incidents affecting all sectors of society. There is clear room for improvement. The data protection audit resource will help organisations to easily identify areas where improvement in their data protection practices are required."
The second initiative is a new video clip competition with a €10,000 prize fund. This is a joint collaboration with Google. Entrants are asked to submit video clips on the theme of ‘Private I, Public Eye’. This is the second year of the video clip competition. Commissioner Hawkes said "My office is delighted to organise this competition in conjunction with Google. Based on the extremely high standard of entries received for last year’s competition, I am confident that this year the competition will be even more successful in reaching out to people who may not be fully aware of their data protection rights. I am particularly delighted to work closely with Google as a key provider of public access to information, including personal information and also appreciate Google’s commitment in providing the prize fund for this competition."
Google, when announcing the competition said "We are delighted to work with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner to help promote awareness of privacy and data protection. YouTube is a fantastic channel through which to promote such issues among younger people in particular and this competition provides a great opportunity for amateur film makers to profile their work to a global audience".
The competition is being hosted on YouTube and the aim is to use the winning clips in schools to promote awareness of how people can take more control of their own information.
The new audit resource is available to download from
www.dataprotection.ie/documents/enforcement/auditresource.pdf further
details for the competition are available at www.youtube.com/dataprotection
Uncategorized
Commission earmarks €1bn for investment in broadband – Frequently Asked Questions Answered
€ 1 billion has been earmarked today to help rural areas get online, bring new jobs and help businesses grow. On average, 93 % of Europeans can enjoy a high speed online connection but in some countries broadband covers less than half of the rural population (see the table in the annex). Broadband internet connection is expected to create 1 million jobs and boost the EU’s economy by €850 billion between 2006 and 2015.
How can investment in broadband infrastructures stimulate Europe’s economic recovery?
Investment in broadband has a positive impact on economic development, innovation and territorial cohesion. A recent study shows that, assuming a constant adoption rate up to 2015, broadband development will help create around 1 million jobs in Europe and a broadband-related growth of economic activity of € 850 bn between 2006 and 2015[1].
In areas with a lack of infrastructure, such as less populated areas or remote and isolated rural areas, increased spending on new telecom infrastructure boosts the productivity and employment potential of the local economy. Development and adoption of advanced broadband services help make businesses and public administration more efficient by enabling organisational innovation and facilitating access to markets. The impact on European industry is clearly positive: apart from civil work for networks which has a direct impact on local employment, sales of network equipment will also benefit global European suppliers (like Siemens, Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent), as well as telecoms or satellite operators. And areas with advanced broadband connections will see an increase in demand for products and services.
What is the current state of broadband coverage and speed in Europe?
Broadband access is increasingly widespread in the EU, following substantial EU efforts and a pro-competitive regulatory framework in place since the liberalization of the telecoms sector. In December 2007, broadband connection was available to around 93% of Europeans, mostly in densely populated areas.
However 30% of the EU rural population still has no access to high speed internet.
At the start of 2008, on average, more than half of European users enjoyed advertised internet speeds above 2 Megabits per second, which is considered the minimum to enable advanced services like television over the internet, and about 10% of users had access to more than 10 Megabits per second. This compares favourably with the USA, where 37% of broadband lines offer at least 2.5 Megabits per second and only 4% have speeds equal or above to 10 Megabits per second. These are however "advertised" speeds which overestimate actual speeds. In fact, internet speed worsens when the distance between the exchanges and the location where the user is based is great and/or when several users access the internet simultaneously.
Internet speeds increase with the share of fiber-based high-capacity access technologies. Fiber accounts for 45% of all broadband subscriptions in South Korea and 39% in Japan. These numbers are similar between the EU and the US (1.4% and 1.5% respectively) but much lower than in Asia.
In terms of penetration rate (broadband take up per population), which was 21.7% in EU27 in July 2008, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden and Finland lead the rankings in the OECD area penetration rates above 30%. The penetration rate in the US is 25%.
Why is it necessary to spend EU money on broadband investment? Could this not be better done by each Member State?
The EU money will be used in addition to private investments and national funding. It means that rural areas which are not covered by existing plans to roll out or upgrade broadband will be able to participate in the web economy very soon. In particular, this means that areas that are already at an economic disadvantage will be better placed for economic recovery already in 2009.
Which regions in Europe are in a particular need of broadband investment?
European rural areas suffer from much lower coverage rates than urban or suburban areas and this is where the European help should focus. In some countries, even traditional telephone networks are not available in rural areas (in Bulgaria or Romania for example). In others, lack of investment and difficult geographic conditions has limited broadband coverage to less than 50% of the rural population (Greece, Poland, Slovakia). Even countries with a more developed infrastructure still have rural coverage rates below 80%. This is the case of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia and Lithuania. Finally, even in the most developed countries (Germany, France, Italy, Austria), there are still areas that, due to their geographical location or mountainous landscapes, do not enjoy the same conditions as the rest of the country.
Finally, these figures relate to the coverage of DSL, which is the most widespread access platform in Europe. But they do not take into consideration people who live too far away from telephone exchanges to have access to DSL. This is around 3% of the population in the EU15 and much more in the new Member States. Thus, there is considerable scope for investment to ensure all Europeans have the right to broadband.
The attached table provides detailed figures on the level of coverage according to the type of area.
Table1: Broadband coverage[2]of population by urbanity, December 2007 (EU27, NO, IS)
2007 | ||||
Urban | Suburban | Rural | Total | |
AT | 100% | 99% | 81% | 92% |
BE | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
BG | n.a. | n.a. | 0% | n.a. |
CY | 100% | 40% | 0% | 80% |
CZ | 98% | 85% | 75% | 85% |
DK | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
EE | 90% | 0% | 73% | 85% |
FI | 99% | 98% | 91% | 96% |
FR | 99% | 99% | 97% | 99% |
DE | 99% | 95% | 88% | 96% |
GR | 100% | 85% | 50% | 86% |
HU | 98% | 94% | 80% | 91% |
IS | 100% | 0% | 79% | 92% |
IE | 100% | 99% | 73% | 89% |
IT | 100% | 91% | 82% | 94% |
LV | 98% | 80% | 65% | 87% |
LT | 99% | 97% | 68% | 88% |
LU | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
MT | 99% | Not relevant | Not relevant | 99% |
NL | 99% | 99% | 99% | 99% |
NO | 98% | 96% | 94% | 96% |
PL | 86% | 45% | 43% | 64% |
PT | 99% | 96% | 86% | 95% |
RO | n.a. | n.a. | 0% | n.a. |
SK | 94% | 84% | 39% | 74% |
SI | 99% | 95% | 86% | 92% |
ES | 93% | 90% | 88% | 91% |
SE | 99% | 99% | 90% | 98% |
UK | 100% | 100% | 96% | 100% |
EU 25+2 | 98% | 92% | 80% | 93% |
EU 27+2 | n.a. | n.a. | 70% | n.a. |
Data source: IDATE Study “Broadband Coverage in Europe 2008”
Data for urban, suburban areas and for the national average in Bulgaria and Romania are not available. Rural coverage in these countries is 0 and this allows the calculation of rural coverage for EU27 + 2.
How will the €1 bn of EU money reach rural areas with a particular need for broadband investments?
The money will be injected into the existing Rural Development Programmes, which have been drafted and approved on the basis of the rules established for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. This means that no new instrument needs to be created and that they will be managed by the national rural development managing authorities. This will necessitate a modification of the Rural Development Programmes and Member States are called upon to do it by 30 June 2009 to allow projects to be identified and expenditure to be made already in 2009.
The European Council in December asked the Commission to specify concrete projects for investing the €5 bn for infrastructure? Is there such a central list for broadband projects?
It is the responsibility of Member States and regions to select the projects that can best serve their areas following the established eligibility and selection rules within their rural development programmes. Projects are not imposed centrally by Brussels, but selected by the Member States and they should reflect the needs identified at national, regional and local level in the context of the National Strategy Plans for rural development.
What is the next step? Can the money now be paid out or do Parliament and Council first have to give their agreement? How long will it take until the first payments are made?
The legal proposals that the Commission has tabled today will make possible the spending of the €1bn under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and will increase its overall budget by the same amount. The proposal requires the approval by Council. The Commission calls on the Council to adopt these proposals as soon as possible so that money can already be committed in 2009.
How will each Member State apply for this extra funding?
By June 2009 Member States and regions will have to propose a modification of their Rural Development Programme, which have to incorporate the option for investments in broadband infrastructure. Member States and regions can authorise projects from the date of submission of the modification request.
What will be the distribution of funding among the Member States?
The amount of €1bn for broadband to be spent under rural development would be distributed among all Member States on the basis of the current distribution key for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. The distribution process will cover also another €0.5bn that are to be spent under rural development for "new challenges" as identified under the Health-check of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Which is the co-financing rate of a broadband project within Rural Development?
Projects can benefit from higher co-financing rates in 2009:
- 90% in Convergence regions
- 75% in non-Convergence regions
If agreed by the Council, additional co-financing of 10% would also be temporarily possible in 2009 to promote the economic recovery in Member States and ease investments.
What are the types of measures related to broadband that can be supported through Rural Development?
The types of operations that can be supported are:
- Creation of new broadband infrastructure including backhaul facilities (e.g. fixed, terrestrial wireless, satellite-based or combination of technologies);
- Upgrade of existing broadband infrastructure;
- Laying down passive broadband infrastructure (e.g.: civil engineering works such as ducts, and other network elements such as dark fibre, etc.) also in synergy with other infrastructures (energy, transport, water, sewerage networks etc.).
Where can I find the contact details of Rural Development Authorities for my Member State?
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/countries/index_en.htm
Further information on the European Commission’s broadband initiatives at "Bridinging the Broadband Gap" initiative:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/broadband_gap_2007/index_en.htm
European broadband portal:
http://www.broadband-europe.eu
[1]Micus study, "The impact of broadband on growth and productivity", available at
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/docs/benchmarking/broadband_impact_2008.pdf
[2] “Broadband Coverage” refers to the coverage of DSL networks, the most widespread form of broadband access in Europe, and in particular to the percentage of population depending on a Local Exchange equipped with a DSLAM. Thus, coverage also includes those people (Households or Businesses Units) that reside too far from these switches to be able to purchase a DSL connection even if they wanted to do so. Hence, coverage figures overestimate actual availability.
Uncategorized
Regulatory Environment Strong but Economic Market Conditions very Weak
The 2009 ECTA* Regulatory Scorecard, which benchmarks the telecoms regulatory framework in 18 European countries, shows Ireland performing well when it comes to its legislative environment and policy but is generally weaker on the resulting regulatory and market outcomes .
Ireland, together with the UK and Norway, scored highest for the efficiency of its regulatory authority. However, the price Ireland’s dominant player eircom charges for a competitor to access the ‘local loop’ is the highest in Europe at €431 per annum compared to €206 in the Netherlands.
Overall Ireland scored 6th position on the scorecard out of 18 EU member states, jumping from 12th position last year with the UK top of the table. The improvement is attributed to improved regulatory processes and relatively progressive policy proposals concerning next generation networks.
Commenting on the findings Ronan Lupton, Chairman of ALTO, which represents the alternative telecommunications sector in Ireland said: "While ComReg should be commended for scoring so highly it is clear that major obstacles still exist for effective competition in Ireland. Access charges to the incumbent’s network is still the highest in the EU and stifles profitable investment. We would call on the Minister to issue tighter policy directions to ComReg and ensure competitive services are available to Irish consumers."
Additional findings of the report as they relate to Ireland include:
- ComReg achieved strong performance for being able to conduct market analyses decisions in an efficient and transparent manner and have also been able to act effectively as dispute settlement bodies.
- For economic market conditions, Ireland scored the worst alongside Turkey and the Czech Republic. For voice, business services and mobile services Ireland was very weak on competition with competitive weaknesses identified in the broadband environment in particular.
- Time to port a telephone number ranges from 1 day in Ireland and Germany to more than 45 days in Poland.
General findings include:
- Countries with lowest prices tend to have higher penetration rates.
- Overall where LLU and cable providers have a higher penetration rate access speeds are higher. Where the incumbent has a higher level of penetration (and typically a higher share of the market), broadband access speeds do not increase significantly.
- Overall LLU helps to expand the broadband market and where LLU has a significant level of penetration the incumbent does not lose sales. In other words LLU is good for consumers (more people subscribe), good for competitors and is not negative for incumbents.
In launching the report ECTA urged the European Parliament and Council to use the opportunity of the Review of the Telecoms Framework to send a clear signal supporting the need for consistent and effective regulation to address dominance in the telecoms sector and to fully empower national regulators.
Innocenzo Genna, Chairman of ECTA said: "Now more than ever, politicians need to help consumers and businesses through the economic crisis by stimulating investment and innovation by all players, lowering costs and boosting business productivity. The results of the Regulatory Scorecard have repeatedly shown that relaxing rules on dominant telecoms firms is not the way to deliver any of these objectives."
About ALTO
ALTO, the association for Alternative Operators in the Communications Market, was established in 1998 to represent the interests of new operators entering Ireland’s telecoms market.
ALTO represents its members with regulatory authorities and policy makers such as the government, the EU, ComReg and the Competition Authority to ensure a competitive and fair business environment in which members can operate successfully. Members also benefit from effective intelligence gathering on current and future legislative and regulatory developments.
Members include: BT Ireland, Budget Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Chorus, Colt Telecom, Complete Networks, Digitweb, ESB Telecoms, Magnet Networks, NTL, Smart Telecom, TalkTalk, Verizon and 3 Play Plus.
For more information visit www.alto.ie
About the 2008 ECTA Regulatory Scorecard
The Scorecard is a comparative quantitative analysis of 18 EU Member States, and Norway and Turkey, resulting in an overall score for the effectiveness of the regulatory environment in each country.
A questionnaire was compiled following consultation with NRAs and ECTA members, and taking account of the requirements and recommendations contained in the EU Communications Framework, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) reference paper on telecommunications and European Commission and European Regulators Group (ERG) Guidelines. It covers (a) the institutional framework; (b) general market access conditions; and (c) the specific competitive and regulatory conditions relating to the markets for fixed and mobile telephony, high speed business connections and broadband.
About ECTA*
The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) looks after the regulatory and commercial interests of new entrant telecoms operators, ISPs and suppliers of products and services to the communications industry.
ECTA works for a fair regulatory environment which allows all electronic communications providers to compete on level terms in order to multiply investment and innovation throughout an effective European internal market. The association represents the telecommunications industry to key government and regulatory bodies and maintains a forum for networking and business development.
ECTA member companies include operators, service providers and suppliers as well as National Associations of such who all contribute towards regulatory policy development and participate in our comprehensive range of networking events, conferences, seminars, briefings and executive meetings.
blogging, irishblogs, Web 2.0, events
We’ve been nommed – hurrah!
And what illustrious company in the business blogs category in the Irish Blog Awards! We’re also delighted to see so many of our members being nominated for their business and, indeed, personal blogs. A nomination for an award shows that somebody sat down and chose you over all the other blogs they could have chosen for that category so it’s kudos no matter how the shortlists turn out. So a big thanks to whoever nominated us. It is a great reflection on us and all our guest bloggers.
You can see the entire list of nominations here. Do put some time aside before clicking on that link as you will find yourself being amazed, inspired and riveted to all that is going on in the Irish Blogosphere.
events
How to do Business Online – Securely: Review by Puddleducks
Aedan Ryan of Puddleducks recently attended the IIA event “How to do Business Online – Securely” and even though he was completely exhausted after taking in all that information he wrote this summary of all he heard on the day. Thanks Aedan – we’re glad it was a worthwhile trip for you.
Uncategorized
Chair of IIA Physical Infrastructure Working Group questions Government plans for national broadband
Keith Bohanna, chair of the Irish Internet Association Physical Infrastructure Working Group, questions the rationale behind the Government’s decision to roll out national broadband on the 3G wireless network, describing it as "divorced from reality". The IIA Physical Infrastructure Working Group aims to influence the development of a global class physical internet infrastructure for Ireland.
Bohanna continued in response to the Government’s announcement on Thursday 22nd January 2008, "Mobile internet dongles consistently deliver speeds which would be better described as an "internet connection" than "broadband". The Epitiro 2008 Irish Broadband study included among its recommendations: For end users that desire the best performance, fixed broadband, at its worst, is superior to any mobile broadband."
This is confirmed by the experience of normal Irish mobile internet users. A search of the popular Irish discussion forum Boards.ie contains a discussion which is 389 pages long and focused on the mostly negative experiences of Three mobile broadband dongle users.
This is not acceptable for businesses relying on the national broadband scheme to deliver information about their products to consumers in a variety of media. Current internet trends are for the consumption and production of large amounts of media in forms other than text – for example images and video. The development of these communications channels forms an integral part of the internet presence of businesses with their eye on international markets and an understanding of the modern consumer.
The Minister also declared that the National Broadband scheme would put Ireland "ahead of the rest of the world". In the May 2008 Ireland was in 23rd place in the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation broadband ranking Bohanna cites this as another example of the Government setting unrealistic targets.
In a briefing given by Forfás to the Physical Infrastructure Working Group’s contains further evidence to support the working group’s concerns about the attainability of the National Broadband scheme. The briefing included the following:
"Comparator European nations in the OECD (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and The Netherlands) have set ambitious targets and implementation plans to enable the services of the future using a mix of government spending, private investment, and public/private partnerships. In terms of broadband performance it is projected that these leading Western European countries will achieve the following minimum broadband services penetrations, by 2012:
- 50-70 percent of subscribers with speeds in the order of 24 Mbit/s widely available;
- an additional 15-20 percent of subscribers with speeds in the order of 38 Mbit/s; and,
- 10-20 percent of subscribers in these countries with access to 100 Mbit/s-1Gbit/s.
By the same year (2012) Three hope to enhance their service to offer a minimum speed of 2.3Mbit/s. And remember that even that minimum speed will fluctuate widely.
It is possible that our current budgetary position will not allow us to achieve 24Mbit/s on a widespread basis. It is possible that for businesses with dial up the Three dongle will give them a better service than the free market will deliver. Bohanna concludes by asking, "Why can’t it be possible to be honest about what this €223 million programme will actually deliver? Internet connectivity for email and web browsing, not a global standard business broadband service."
Uncategorized
Themes for IIA Congress 2009 and call for speakers announced
The Irish Internet Association’s Annual Congress will take place on 21-22 May, 2009 in the Crowne Plaza Conference Hotel, Dublin. The annual Net Visionary Awards will also be held on the first night of the conference. This premier event will be attended by over 400 industry professionals.
The audience last year comprised senior managers, decision makers and key industry personnel and the event was a complete sell-out. 38% of delegates at last year’s Congress in Croke Park were C- or Director level. (Watch a video review of last year’s event)
The IIA Congress is unique in that it provides excellent content in an educational and networking environment. Previous keynote speakers come from companies such as Bebo, eBay, Microsoft, Dell, Google, Yahoo, Aer Lingus and Jupiter Research. The format of this 2-day event includes plenary sessions, breakout sessions, clinics and ample networking opportunities.
Fergal O’Byrne, IIA CEO, speaking about this year’s theme, commented, "The IIA holds a strong conviction that when times are tough, the internet offers solutions for a broad variety of enterprises. The focus this year will be the potential of the internet to allow businesses to market their products and services, protect and profit from their resources and leverage the latest internet innovations to maximise the opportunities available."
Nominations for this year’s Net Visionary Awards will open mid-February followed by the creation of shortlists created by judges chosen from the Irish Internet sector and culminating in a public online vote. Last year’s awards saw the largest number of nominations and votes than any year previously and the IIA hope that running the two events at the same time will facilitate more companies attending both of these events.
The IIA is currently seeking expressions of interest from amongst its members for the many speaker and sponsorship opportunities that an event like this affords.
More information and updates: www.iia.ie/congress09/
Membership
Free Rockets!
Okay not strictly true 🙂 But I have something free from RocketJobs, one of the IIA’s first new members of 2009.
RocketJobs is an industry-wide job site with the focus on removing as much clutter as possible and keeping the focus on making search quick and easy. Launched in December, our list of jobs and clients is growing rapidly. Following RecruitIreland’s recent good example, RocketJobs has gone one step further and is offering three free posts to any employer in Ireland. Check out their own blog post about this.
For any additional roles over and above these free postings we are offering 30% extra roles free to all IIA members.
Nice!
broadband
Government announces scheme to deliver broadband across Ireland
Communications Minister Eamon Ryan today announced the National Broadband Scheme, the Government scheme to deliver broadband services throughout the country. Following the conclusion of a competitive tendering process, the Minister has entered into a contract for the delivery of this scheme with ‘3’ (a Hutchinson Whampoa company).
Ireland currently has over 1.2 million subscribers to broadband. The National Broadband Scheme will provide the remaining 10% of our population, or approximately 33% of the area of the country, with broadband services (see attached map). Ireland will have 100% coverage by September 2010; half of the area under the scheme will be covered by the end of this year.
Investment of €223 million from a combination of Exchequer funds, EU co-financing and ‘3’ will create 170 direct jobs. Hundreds more will be protected and created as the availability of broadband increases the investment and enterprise in the targeted areas.
‘3’ will extend its network to provide mobile wireless broadband services into the NBS area. Initially, the service will have a minimum download speed of 1.2 mbps. At least, two upgrades of speeds are planned during the lifetime of the contract. These product upgrades will be carried out at no cost to the customer.
Announcing the scheme, Minister Ryan said, “For too long, rural Ireland has been without this essential service.
Today’s announcement is a boost for the rural economy. Now businesses throughout the country can have ready access to the national and international markets. Employment will be created and sustained. Quality of life will improve for rural residents and communities will be strengthened.
This contract represents real value for public money. I congratulate ‘3’ on winning this contract and look forward to them meeting the challenging, but achievable coverage targets.”
Robert Finnegan Chief Executive of 3 commented: “3 is delighted to have won the NBS tender – it’s great news for 3 and for rural Ireland. We’ll be rolling out our first class broadband network bringing internet services to thousands of homes and businesses across the country. Over five years we’ll be investing 223 million euros and creating around 170 new jobs giving Ireland’s economy a welcome boost. There has never been a more important time for people to get connected as Ireland strives to sharpen its competitiveness. 3 has already played an important part in bringing Ireland up to speed in the broadband league tables and we look forward to further strengthening 3’s market leading position with the most innovative and services and best value price plans available.”