Ireland - Broadband Market Insights, Statistics and Forecasts

Synopsis

Ireland’s broadband market is underdeveloped by European standards, although government efforts to improve local loop unbundling and wholesale access has meant that growth, albeit from a relatively low base, has been strong during the last two years. Relatively low penetration has partly been due to high wholesale costs, lack of competition, high retail prices, and limited coverage in many non-urban areas. The proposed structural separation of eircom could have been a catalyst for rapid development in this market, but the global financial crisis affecting eircom’s parent company, and its sale in late 2009, suspended further progress. This report profiles Ireland’s fixed and wireless broadband markets in 2011, together with developments in related technologies such as FttH, powerline broadband, wireless and mobile broadband, WiFi and Internet via satellite. It also provides forecasts for broadband uptake to 2020.

Key developments:

Next Generational Broadband Taskforce set up for broadband roadmap; government pursues ‘NewEra’ National Recovery Programme; fixed broadband revenue grows 11% in 2010; Ka-band spotbeam technology available to Digiweb Tooway, eircom and SBI satellite; eircom to quadruple WiFi hotspots to 4,000 by 2013; regulator and operator data to Q1 2011.

Companies covered in this report include:

UPC Ireland, Casey CableVision, eircom, Digiweb.

1. Synopsis
2. Overview
- 2.1 Broadband statistics
  - 2.1.1 Delivering access
- 2.2 National Development Plan to 2013
  - 2.2.1 Next Generation Broadband (NGB) – 2010
- 2.3 Promoting broadband
- 2.4 Government networks
- 2.5 Other providers
- 2.6 Regional infrastructure
- 2.7 Wholesale bitstream
3. Cable modems
4. Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
- 4.1 Alternative operators
- 4.2 ADSL2+
5. Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) networks
6. Broadband Powerline (BPL)
7. Mobile broadband
8. Wireless broadband
- 8.1 1.7GHz band
- 8.2 10.5GHz band
- 8.3 3.5GHz band
- 8.4 Other spectrum
- 8.5 Digiweb
- 8.6 National Fixed Wireless Point to Multipoint Licences (FWPMA)
  - 8.6.1 26GHz band
- 8.7 Other developments
- 8.8 Other bands
- 8.9 WiFi
- 8.10 Worldwide Interoperability of Microwave Access (WiMAX)
- 8.11 WiFibre
- 8.12 Internet via satellite
  - 8.12.1 SchoolSat
9. Forecasts – broadband subscribers – 2009 - 2012; 2020
- 9.1 Scenario 1 – higher broadband subscriber growth
- 9.2 Scenario 2 – lower broadband subscriber growth
- 9.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
10. Related reports

Table 1 – Broadband penetration by technology – 2006 - 2010
Table 2 – Dial-up Internet subscribers – 2005 - 2012
Table 3 – Total Internet users – 2005 - 2012
Table 4 – Total broadband subscribers by access type – 2002 - 2012
Table 6 – Share of broadband subscribers by platform – 2007 - 2011
Table 7 – Market share of fixed broadband subscriptions by operator – 2010 - 2011
Table 8 – Fixed-line broadband revenue – 2005 - 2010
Table 9 – UPC Ireland subscribers – 2006 - 2011
Table 10 – UPC Ireland revenue – 2006 - 2009
Table 12 – Eircom’s ADSL lines – 2005 - 2011
Table 13 – Mobile broadband subscribers – 2007 - 2012
Table 14 – Mobile broadband share of all broadband subscribers – 2007 - 2012
Table 15 – Mobile broadband share of all broadband subscribers – 2010 - 2011
Table 16 – Wireless broadband subscribers – 2005 - 2011
Table 17 – Wireless hotspots and access points - 2007 - 2011
Table 18 – Forecast fixed-line broadband subscribers – higher market growth scenario– 2009 - 2012; 2020
Table 19 – Forecast fixed-line broadband penetration – higher market growth scenario– 2009 - 2012; 2020
Table 20 – Forecast fixed-line broadband subscribers – lower market growth scenario – 2009 - 2012; 2020
Table 21 – Forecast fixed-line broadband penetration – lower market growth scenario – 2009 - 2012; 2020