Inside View from Ireland: Using the Flawed Irish Broadband Map

BECAUSE I LIVE in a triple-green zone for broadband connectivity in Ireland, it appears to some planners that I can get high-speed always-on internet access from three sources. The map says I have broadband at the pavement from eircom, suitable for seven megabits per second service. The map also says I can get up to 20 megabits per second from a licensed fixed wireless access provider. And a third shade of green suggests I am in a zone soon to be swept with over-the-air broadband certified at nearly 15 megabits per second. All three of these green colours deserve footnotes that are not on the map itself. They are footnotes that would inform the judgment of county planners as they advise the community of the best places to set up and run businesses. Here are three of those planning factors that I would embed as footnotes, along with a photo of one of my workspaces in a home office where the broadband part of the internet is accessible only at an upstairs window.

My landline signal is splitting. I know that although I pay for 7 Mbs from Eircom, my line quality has degraded as more than 100 new homes in my estate were given landlines. It's a minor thing but irritating to see that I can no longer depend upon 4 Mbs of consistent line speed for more than two consecutive hours at a time during many workdays. I need that speed when holding sessions with Online Meeting Rooms. Anyone running a business from a home office behind me needs to know their broadband signal won't be a steady 4 megabit source.

Fixed Wireless is Problematic. One of my daily readers knows how to get me 20 Mbs by attaching an antenna to my house and pointing it at a farmer's hill 12 miles away. With that antenna alignment, I can get a solid Fixed Wireless Signal. But nearly one third of those in my housing estate cannot get the signal since they are not in line of sight of the hill. Yet they live in a green-coloured zone where fixed wireless access is designated as available. Moreover, residents in my estate are not happy with the poor quality of service from another heavily-advertised wireless broadband provider. But that provider has assured the Irish government of solid wireless broadband service throughout the townland.

Over-the-Air But Not Inside. All Irish mobile operators claim to provide 3G service to my home. They do, but you need to be outside or at an eastern window to get the signal. That fact of life should be annotated for planners.

I'm off to make my own connectivity map.

Sent mail2blog using O2-Typepad EDGE services in Ballyclerihan, Clonmel, Ireland.