Ireland must make spectrum decisions to boost broadband

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Ireland must make spectrum decisions to boost broadband

Ireland is more dependent on wireless broadband than most European nations, but its progress will be held back until key spectrum decisions are made

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 19 December, 2008

READ MORE: Spectrum | Broadband

Ireland is more dependent on wireless broadband than most European nations, but its progress will be held back until key spectrum decisions are made.

The country's rapid economic growth in recent years has led to a situation where it has high average income combined with relatively low broadband penetration, as well as a large proportion of rural areas. All this lends itself to wireless broadband, and several operators, such as Irish Broadband, have been building WiMAX systems. But a report from Analysys Mason points out that expansion is being limited by various regulatory issues.

In particular, the regulator, ComReg, must resolve issues on refarming 2G spectrum for 3G services; on whether the 'digital dividend' spectrum left after the switch to digital TV can be used for wireless broadband; and issues about the rules surrounding the 2.6GHz band. This last is used in Ireland for MMDS television and fixed access, but operators want its rules brought into line with those of most of the EU, to support mobile broadband using WiMAX or LTE.

"The role of wireless networks is more important in Ireland than in other leading EU economies. More than 14% of broadband connections in Ireland are wireless, compared with less than 1% in the UK, France and Spain," commented Janette Dobson of Analysys Mason.

Patrick Kidney, head of Analysys Mason Ireland, said the market will only make progress when these uncertainties are removed for operators investing in Irish wireless, and wants the 900MHz GSM band and the analog TV spectrum opened up for wireless data, since both bands are suited to rural access. He added: "2.6GHz spectrum is currently used for TV distribution, and will continue to do so until at least 2012-14, however, this could hinder the future deployment of high capacity wireless broadband via LTE and WiMAX unless alternative bands can be made available."