News | 19 Jun 2008 :
Communications Minister Eamon Ryan, T.D. has stated that successful countries in the new digital economy rely on open internet access networks. He was speaking at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Declaration on the future of the Internet Economy at a Ministerial meeting in Seoul, Korea.
Minister Ryan said: "Competition between different platform providers is the key driver in delivering internet access networks. Clearly, those countries which have the most open access networks will be the most successful in a new digital economy. Such open access is a crucial issue in the creation of an environment which encourages the development of new digital services to the public."
The Minister then went on to contextualise Ireland's involvement in the digital economy. "Ireland can be promoted as a leading internet economy by providing flexible and ubiquitous connectivity to the Internet. As a location for 210 international ICT companies and with 600 of our own software enterprises, such open access connectivity could set us up as a test location for new digital internet technologies," he said.
Comreg, Ireland's telecommunications regulator, has just published its quarterly report. The report states that Ireland's broadband take-up has grown by 12% and that the nation's broadband penetration is 22.9%.
Acknowledging this, the Minister said: "Competition is working for us, as can be seen from the statistics published by Comreg yesterday showing we have passed two broadband milestones. We now have one million broadband subscribers and for the first time we have surpassed the OECD average on broadband penetration."
The OECD meeting, which occurs every 10 years, brings together civil society, industry and policy makers from across the world to map out the future direction of the Internet.
The declaration aims to promote the ongoing convergence of digital networking devices, applications and services. It aims to protect the open source and open access characteristics of the Internet. It sets out policies to strengthen security on the Internet so that it can become a truly global economic and social infrastructure.