The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce held its second Stakeholder Forum today in Ballinasloe, County Galway. This year's Forum was moderated by journalist and broadcaster Ms Jess Kelly.
Bringing together a diverse range of Stakeholders, including telecommunications companies, community representative groups, the Commission for Communications Regulation, local authorities, and relevant Government Departments, the Taskforce aims to eliminate barriers to telecommunications infrastructure and deployment, as well as tackling blackspots across Ireland, pending rollout of the National Broadband Plan State Intervention.
The Annual Forum affords all stakeholders the opportunity to actively contribute to shaping the work of the Taskforce and identify barriers to broadband and mobile phone coverage. This year's event aimed to build on the success of last year's inaugural Stakeholder Forum, reflecting on key steps already taken, and identifying any new areas for action.
Speaking at the Annual Forum Minister of State Seán Kyne commented:
The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce has been working steadily and determinedly to improve mobile phone and broadband coverage for householders, businesses and communities across the country. In Government we are keen to build on the progress achieved and today's forum is a great opportunity for stakeholders to provide valuable input and feedback to help us plan the next steps for the Taskforce.
Mr John Kennedy (Editor, Silicon Republic), was this year's key note speaker, while the main panel of speakers included Mr Robert Finnegan (Chief Executive Officer, Three Ireland), Mr Brian Donnellan (Vice-President and Dean of International Affairs, National University of Ireland, Maynooth - a leading expert in management information systems and smart cities), Ms Carolan Lennon (Chief Executive Officer, eir), Mr Anthony Whelan (Director, Electronic Communications Networks and Services, DG CONNECT) and Mr Conor Pope (Journalist and Broadcaster).
Panellists were challenged to identify the key future challenges facing Government and industry in rolling out new telecommunications infrastructure that will drive our digital society and economy.
Closing the event, Minister of State Kyne enumerated some of the notable achievements of the Taskforce in the twelve months since the inaugural Stakeholder Forum. These include:
- ComReg has published results of tests carried out on mobile/smart phone handsets currently available in Ireland. This will inform consumer decisions in choosing the handset best suited to their needs.
- ComReg has also developed a licensing exemption scheme so households and businesses can now use indoor mobile phone repeaters to boost signals within their premises and bring immediate improvements in mobile coverage. I am encouraged to learn of this action already having tangible results, as a number of rural Government Offices have recently availed of repeater technology.
- The focus group established to provide guidance on categories of location where the provision of high quality reliable mobile coverage should be prioritised, has now published its report and it is anticipated that the output of this focus group should influence the approach of mobile network operators in working to reduce mobile phone blackspots. The report will also inform future policy with regard to priorities for mobile-phone services. Other work is ongoing by the Taskforce to help identify the blackspot locations needing prioritisation.
- A Working Group on State Assets has been established which will shortly be submitting to Government a Policy Paper in respect of leveraging State and publically owned assets suitable for the housing and deployment of telecommunications infrastructure.
While praising participants for the substantial progress made to date, Minister of State Kyne urged all stakeholders to
remain focussed, resume the work and rededicate' themselves to the work of the Taskforce in order to complete the journey towards a ‘digitally connected society not for many, not even for most, but for all.