6. Broadband

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Broadband growth rates are tapering off, with the exception of mobile broadband which grew by 15%, compared with a more modest 4% growth in other broadband. The grand total stands at 1.2 million subscriptions across all platforms. The quadrupling of adoption levels over a three-year period has impacted positively on Ireland ’s ranking in the European broadband league tables. The gap has narrowed considerably between Ireland and the EU average. Back in 2005, Ireland ’s fixed broadband rate was less than half of the EU average and we were sitting uncomfortably in the bottom third of the league table. But by 2009 we scored 20.2%, much closer to the EU27 average of 22.9%. Denmark continues to be top of the table at 37.3%, while the UK ranks 6th at 28.4%.

Source: ComReg Quarterly Key DataReport, March 2009. Orange lineincludes mobile broadband, while green line shows all platforms, with theexception of mobile. European Commission, InformationSociety reports 2005 – 2009; note 2009 and 2008 are for January in those years, 2006 and 2005 figures relate to October in the respective years; EU figures are for fixed broadband only

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