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From: Sent: 08 March 2019 10:24 To: info <[email protected]> Subject: Submission re Draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Southern Region Dear Sir I am responding to your draft Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy for the Southern Region and I attach above two publications by the Irish Academy of Engineering regarding national broadband policy and the Atlantic City regions. I believe recommendations in these reports are relevant in consideration of your strategy and I would be obliged if you would consider same in this regard. Both publications were published in 2016 and while things have moved on in the meantime in relation to both issues, the fundamental proposal to have a more decentralised and joined up approach under the control of a commercial semi-state entity similar to the Shannon Airport model for the development of The Southern and Western Seaboard is more necessary than ever. The new Land Development Agency is another similar type structure with a clear mandate. The success of The Wild Atlantic Way is a great example of what can be achieved through a co-ordinated approach when the delivery of the vision is the responsibility of one organisation. Unfortunately, the Athenry Apple experience is an example of how not to attract key infrastructure projects to Regional Ireland when we don’t have a co-ordinated support structure for delivery of projects in the private sector which are very strategic and desirable. As we all know, those of us outside The Pale are experiencing a very different reality than the Dublin Economic Blockbuster Renewal which is to be welcomed but needs balancing so that the Regions don’t fall further behind. An entity which would be a one stop shop for the Southern and Western Economic Corridor would be able to fast track the use of key infrastructure already in place in relation to Power, Broadband,Gas , Water etc and fill gaps in those utilities so as attract key projects such as Data Centres in a manner which is currently happening in many developed countries already and kept in the ownership of the State but run on a commercial but not for profit basis. It is a fact that 41 out 46 Data Centres in the country are located around Dublin where power distribution is beyond congested and land, house prices, etc all much more expensive and have directly created over 15,000 jobs. I have always been struck by the fact that the price of Electricity is the same regardless of location in Ireland but the cost of Broadband by comparison is a factor of distance from Dublin largely because of the cost of Backhaul from Dublin and particularly given that most of the Power Generation occurs in the West of Ireland and has to be transported to the Eastern Seaboard. For this reason I founded E-Net in 2000 (E-Nasc Eireann Teoranta meaning “linking Ireland electronically”). E-Net was subsequently awarded the concession to manage, operate and maintain the metropolitan area networks (MANs) and which it continues to do at present, but there is still a need to level the playing pitch so as to eliminate the digital divide between Dublin and the Regions. At the same time, the Dublin Lobby want to pump water from Birdhill to Dublin without any compensatory package for the Western Seaboard for example. A barter arrangement to level the Broadband imbalance might be considered to enable the deployment of the excellent Aurora Backhaul Network for the benefit of the regions by eliminating the backhaul cost differential and requiring no further investment only a policy change The Global Crossing Cable landing in Dublin in the late 1990’s was a game changer in the Economic Revival of Dublin and I would love your strategy to devise a structure which would stimulate the Economic Revival of the rest of the country in a similar manner and with minimal further investment so as to ensure delivery of the Governments Plans contained in Project 2040 for Regional Ireland I believe the key weakness in your draft strategy is the lack of an implementation structure and I would earnestly encourage you to address this in your final document. Irish Academy of Engineering Policy Advisory NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN IRELAND April 2016 Ref. No. 02/06E/04.16 THE IRISH ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING The Irish Academy of Engineering is an all- island body, concerned with long-term issues where the engineering profession can make a unique contribution to economic, social and technological development. Its members are Irish Engineers of distinction, drawn from a wide range of disciplines, and membership currently stands at 145. Drawing on the experience and knowledge of its distinguished members, the Academy works to facilitate communication and dialogue on engineering related matters. It regularly publishes reports and analyses, some jointly with other learned and professional bodies. The Irish Academy of Engineering 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 Telephone: +353 1 665 1337 [email protected] Taskforce Members www.iae.ie Garret Burke Ger Hallissey Patrick Kelly Patrick Leonard Brendan Minish Diarmuid Ó’ Briain Cormac O’ Murchú Peer Review Group Eoin O’ Driscoll Martin Cronin Brendan Tuohy Facilitator Tim Brick The members of the Standing Committee and the Contributors participated in extensive discussions in the course of the series of meetings and submitted comments on a series of drafts of the report. Its content conveys the general tone and direction of the discussion, but its recommendations do not necessarily reflect a common position reached by all members of the Standing Committee and the Contributors, nor do they necessarily represent the views of the organisations to which the members belong. Policy Advisory — National Broadband Plan - Ireland 1 CONTENTS Executive Summary 2 1. Targets – High speed broadband to all 3 2. Competiveness and Sustainable Competitive Advantage 6 3. Maximising Use of Existing and Future Assets 7 4. “Last Mile” Issues 8 5. Funding & Need to Strengthen Regulation & Supervision 9 6. Measuring Success 11 Table of Abbreviations 12 2 Policy Advisory — National Broadband Plan - Ireland EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Policy Advisory has been prepared, to assist in the development of a national policy, in the context of the European Digital Agenda (now the DSMeu), the government’s National Broadband Plan – Intervention Strategy (2015) and the current national debate on the provision of a broadband service to all areas of the State. The Irish Academy of Engineering Taskforce members were drawn from practitioners in the broadband services industry. They examined the future needs in this field and distilled their findings into key recommendations, in the form of 6 Policy Advisories, under the following headings:- \\ Targets – High Speed Broadband to all (page 3) \\ Competitiveness (page 6) \\ Maximising Use of Existing and Future Assets (page 7) \\ “Last Mile” Issues (page 8) \\ Funding & Need to Strengthen Regulation & Supervision (page 9) \\ Measuring Success (page 11) The scale of the task ahead, in providing a world class broadband network and service will be immense (e.g. “intervention Area” alone covers over 90% of the land mass of the country). The timescale involved will be short and the investment required will be significant*. Experience to date tells us that a substantial contribution of Exchequer funding will be required, combined with an independent dedicated public body empowered to drive the initiative, to achieve such a strategic, national objective. That it constitutes a vital part of the economy’s and society’s future cannot be doubted, and should be viewed as a further essential part of our nation building. * Examples for Intervention Area (AI) for 750,000 addresses only:- \\ Western Development Commission 2012 Report noted German cost of €2,900/connection. Thus IA could require investment of €2.175bn, from all sources. \\ The Telecommunication and Internet Federation (TIF) estimate cost of €2.378 (for rural areas). Thus IA could require investment of €1,784bn, from all sources. \\ Gigaclear (UK) estimate costs of £800 (approx €1,142)/connection. Thus IA could require investment of €0.856bn, from all sources. (Sources: www.wdc.ie, www.computerweekly.com/news/4500255846, www.ftthcouncil.org) Policy Advisory — National Broadband Plan - Ireland 3 1. TARGETS – HIGH SPEED BROADBAND TO ALL 1.1 The European Digital Agenda (DAE – now known as to ensure the provision of a strategic, nationally the Digital Single Market EU – DSMeu) in 2014 set important infrastructure. out a target for the delivery to all of at least 30Mbps download speed broadband service by 2020. Cloud computing is redefining how individuals, SMEs, large corporations and public bodies do business. The Irish Governments’ National Broadband Plan – Cloud-based services have lowered the barriers Intervention Strategy (2015) recommends a service for start-ups, reduced costs and extended reach that delivers at least 30Mbps download speeds and for SMEs and truly globalised large corporations. a minimum upload speed of 6Mbps (including during Without ubiquitous, high speed fibre broadband peak usage). providing the advantages of speed, security and bandwidth, Ireland will continue to be in ‘catch-up Achieving competitive advantage in an increasingly mode’ and at a significant disadvantage, particularly globalised world requires an information infrastructure the rural areas and those areas not served by such that is provided ahead of demand, an infrastructure infrastructure and services. that reduces costs and stimulates innovation. The Global Crossing Initiative in 1999 positioned Ireland The Internet of Things (IOT) has the potential to as a leading location for data centres and thereby stimulate innovation and radically change the cost enabled massive service exports by world leading base in the delivery of many products and services. companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Ireland, if it has a first class telecommunications Google and a new generation of social media firms.

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