SiliconRepublic: Ireland second last in Europe for broadband. But I think regular readers will know that ;) ‘Ireland’s already shaky claim to the title European digital hub was looking even more risible than usual today, following the latest internet penetration survey, which shows us to be languishing in second last place out of 16 European countries in terms of broadband internet penetration. ‘
The usual story — with quotes from IO’s Dave Long — and that’s not surprising. I should imagine things will improve a lot this year, now that the ComReg seems a little more on the job, and eircom have halved their prices.
But the really interesting thing is this: ‘Among the survey’s other findings were that 7.5pc (12 million) of all European households now subscribed to a broadband internet service. 6.3 million customers signed up for broadband for the first time in 2002 — an increase of 55pc over 2001. … It further predicted that a further 7.2 million European homes will acquire broadband for the first time this year, bringing the total to 19.1 million or 11.9pc of total households.’
That’s excellent news, and wipes out the FUD put about by some telcos (guess which ones) that there just isn’t demand in the current market. Clearly there is strong demand throughout the rest of Europe — and there really isn’t much difference between there and here. In fact, if anything, I reckon there would be more demand here, based on the take-up of other high-tech accessories like mobile phones and games consoles.