The bandwidth issue and the lack of funding to address it have profound effects on third-level work. Professor David Fegan, a researcher in astrophysics at UCD's department of physics, is a major user of the Internet, especially given the limits on astronomical observation here. "Because of our poor climate, a lot of our work is done in the US, where we have access to a lot of facilities," he explains.

"Data is produced at a phenomenal rate, which begs the question: how do we get it to Dublin? Nowadays, we use the Internet - we receive hundreds of megabytes of data every night. We have a very keen interest in having the widest band and the biggest possible throughput." The system is currently working well, Fegan says, but he is about to move into a new phase of his work. "Future developments within our work will lead to much larger data files, by a factor of 20 to 25, which will have to be moved as fastly and efficiently as possible. For this, we will need faster throughput and higher bandwith."

Failure to increase the bandwidth "will result in a severe bottleneck and we will effectively squeeze out other people. It will also slow up our work." Last May, UL opened its state-of-the-art library which provides 60 PCs with Internet access. But already, students are having to queue to use them. "Increasingly, lectures are referring students to the Internet as a major source of information for projects," says Gordon Young, manager of UL's IT department. In business, marketing, science and engineering, the Internet is an now essential resource. Such is the pressure, he says, students are now having to queue for up to half-an-hour to get on the machines. Increased bandwidth would mean that UL could enlarge its Internet access. "In other countries, the bandwidth used by third level is paid for by central government," Young notes. "It's seen as an infrastructural issue - like the road system."

If things continue as they are, Young fears that students' access to the Internet will have to be time-limited. In that event, instead of being viewed as friends and helpers, the library's computer laboratory attendants will be seen as security forces, he warns.