Madam, - It was refreshing to read Fintan O'Toole's column proposing a renationalisation of Eircom (Opinion, November 11th). It is universally accepted that high-quality broadband provision is critical to attracting foreign direct investment, but this is only part of the story.
I run a small indigenous technology company from my home in Dunmore East, Co Waterford. We have broadband, here but the quality of service is so poor that it is not usable for video-conferencing or reliable virtual private network connections to clients. There is no reasonably priced service available outside a small number of major towns and cities. Our company is successful - but this is in spite of these barriers to trade.
Our business is export-driven. Every cent we earn is money coming into this country that would not otherwise be here and high-quality data communications are critical to enable us to reach and service our markets.
With ever increasing energy costs, the future for the Irish economy lies in internationally traded services where our geographical location does not have to be an obstacle to trade. We can compete - but only if we can be close to our international customers without leaving the office.
It is clear for all to see that the approach of the past 10 years has not worked and that a bold new approach is required. Unfortunately, Minister Eamon Ryan and his Department seem to think that more of the same is what we need. It may never be commercially justified for telecom companies to provide the connectivity we require in villages such as Dunmore East. But if we want export businesses to be viable outside of a handful of sites, this is exactly what must be done.
I urge the Minister to renationalise the physical network and invest heavily. The net result would be increased employment and tax revenue, balanced regional development and significant reductions in greenhouse emissions and traffic congestion as home-workers do not commute. - Yours, etc,