Broadband uptake in rural Ireland continues to lag behind use of the technology in urban areas, new research shows.
The latest State of the Netsurvey describes the northwest as Ireland's "broadband blackspot", with adoption levels up to five times lower than in Dublin. The survey is produced quarterly by online consultancy AMAS for the Irish Internet Association.
The highest broadband concentrations were in urban centres such as Dublin, Cork city and Galway city. The survey shows that Dún Laoghaire /Rathdown has the highest broadband penetration levels at almost 40 per cent, followed by south Dublin (35.8 per cent) and Fingal (34.6 per cent).
Leitrim has the lowest broadband uptake at just 7.8 per cent, followed by Cavan (9.1 per cent), Roscommon (9.3 per cent) and Donegal (9.8 per cent).
Wexford bucks the trend on the east coast, with a low broadband uptake of 10 per cent.
Broadband uptake in the State is 12.5 per cent, compared to an OECD average of 16.9 per cent.
AMAS managing director Aileen O'Toole said broadband usage rates raised serious issues for competitiveness.
"While broadband subscriptions are growing quarter to quarter, this masks the reality that there are significant parts of the country where broadband penetration levels are exceptionally low," she said, adding that broadband usage was a serious issue for Irish competitiveness.
However, the survey noted that the cost of broadband in Ireland was falling, with Ireland ranking fifth among EU-15 states - with an average monthly cost of €22.58.
AMAS has published a colour-coded map illustrating the divergence in broadband use across the State on the basis of data of compiled as part of the 2006 census.
The survey found that Irish broadband speeds were among the lowest among the OECD member states. The speed of 3mb per second put Ireland in 23rd place among the 30 OECD countries, significantly behind the two leading countries, Japan and Korea, where internet users enjoy speeds of 100mb per second.
Fergal O'Byrne, chief of the Irish Internet Association, said "affordable, high-speed broadband" should be recognised as a basic right. "We regard it as a utility service like water and electricity."
