Poor broadband makes rural parts of Dublin undesirable places to live

28 May 2014

Despite the recent surge in property prices in Dublin, 60pc of residents of the rural parts of Dublin say extremely slow and poor quality broadband make their areas undesirable places to live.

A study by satellite broadband provider Europasat into the state of broadband in rural parts of the UK and Ireland found Ireland was hit the worst when it came to poor broadband provision.

More than 1,000 people in Ireland – north and south – were questioned as part of the study.

Despite the recent €512m plan revealed by Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte to bring fibre to rural parts of Ireland ignored by telecoms providers, residents of the rural parts of Dublin feel most let down by the Government.

Some 53pc stated that they don’t feel the Government has done enough for them on the broadband front.

Slow broadband affects Belfast the most, with 51pc saying it affects their work, local businesses and trade in their area in a negative way.

State of the nation

Some 60pc of residents in rural parts of Dublin believe people would be put off living in their areas because of extreme slow broadband issues.

Dublin houses the most rural residents (57pc) that were promised a superfast broadband scheme from the Government that they never received.

Some 47pc of Northern Irish residents are unhappy, with BT being given the monopoly over rural broadband schemes.

Around 47pc of Northern Irish residents and 45pc of Republic of Ireland residents feel their work is impacted in a negative way due to poor broadband in their area.

Some 68pc of residents in the Republic of Ireland feel that local businesses and trade in their area suffer due to the state of broadband.

Overall, Northern Ireland showed a much higher sentiment when it comes to their broadband when compared to the Republic of Ireland, which points to a digital divide in Ireland.

Some 66pc of Dublin residents said poor broadband affects local businesses and trade in their area in a negative way, higher than any other city surveyed.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com