Ireland sets new broadband targets

Irish communications minister Pat Rabbitte has announced a new national broadband plan, under which up to EUR175 million (USD219 million) of state funding will be spent to extend next generation high speed network access to the 30% of the population deemed non viable for commercial operators to serve. A further EUR175 million is envisaged to be spent by operators in improving services nationwide, reports RTE. The plan states that by 2015, 50% of the population will have access to speeds of between 70Mbps and 100Mbps, 20% of the populous will be offered 40Mbps or faster services, and the 30% remainder – including the remotest communities – will have minimum speeds of 30Mbps. Services will be based on fixed and mobile technologies, including 4G cellular networks.