An €18 million high-speed broadband network for the south east region was launched in Wexford today.
The joint Government/EU project will lay 86 kilometres of cable across five counties serving the six urban centres of Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Dungarvan and Clonmel.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Dermot Ahern, said the network will shortly link all factories, offices, public buildings, schools as well as residential customers in the region.
The southeast project is the largest regional network in the €65 million National Broadband Programme which will eventually cover 19 major towns.
The department is also close to unveiling a €55 million Regional Broadband Programme which will bring high-speed communication links to another 350,000 people in 41 towns.
"I believe this investment will be repaid through more competitiveness, lower prices, global access and application of cutting edge technology," Mr Ahern.
The minister is also pushing through a 25 million euro Group Broadband Scheme to connect rural communities with a population of less than 1,500.
In addition, the minister promised to have have every school in the country connected to broadband before the end of 2005.
Earlier, Mr Ahern rejected claims that there was a serious lack of broadband penetration across the country compared to the rest of the EU. He said: "There's absolutely no doubt that the market will fail people in areas where it's not commercially viable for the provider companies to go into.
"There will be a `digital divide' if you can get broadband in some areas and not in others." He added Ireland now had a growing broadband penetration of 3% compared to an EU average of 5 per cent.