Ken McGuire

A Country Under Wi-Fi? Not us!

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Ken McGuire

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It would be great to see it in Ireland.

A haven for IT companies. A haven for foreign investment. A country under complete wi-fi access from Dublin Airport to the hills of Donegal, Malin Head to Mizen head blah blah blah.

Whatever.

At least in Singapore it looks like they have it right….

By the end of the year, it will be possible to roam almost anywhere in Singapore and get a wireless signal. As part of its Intelligent Nation 2015 program, the island nation will be able to boast of countrywide Wi-Fi coverage in a few months, the exec VP of WISP SingTel said in a recent interview. “At the end of the year, Singapore will be one mega hot spot,” he said. “They are breaking Singapore into three regions and looking at ways to maximize coverage.” The Intelligent Nation program, officially unveiled last year, seeks to make Singapore a global leader in communications technology in a decade.

Not only that but they’re looking at delivering broadband access to 90% of all residences. Let the Irish government take note!

News.com with the story….

Comments

6 responses to “A Country Under Wi-Fi? Not us!”

  1. sean Avatar
    sean

    Thats awesome.. I want it in Ireland!

  2. Ken McGuire Avatar
    Ken McGuire

    yeah i think you’ll be waiting a while for that to happen i think!

  3. Evert Bopp Avatar
    Evert Bopp

    While this is a great concept it’s not realistic in expecting the whole of Ireland to be covered with wifi. The cost of covering areas where there is no need for such service will drive the cost of using the service in areas where it is needed up to a ridiculous level. I agree however that the current availability of broadband in Ireland is a joke (especially outside the large urban centers) and that a wireless infrastructure is the logical solution to this.
    However complaining about the governments lack of innitiative in this field is something that has been going on in this country for years without any measurable result. Instead it is much more realistic for privately owned operators to enter into this market. There are currently several plans being developed in Ireland to create a number of wireless hotzones covering rural as well as urban areas. Just contact your local TD and ask him/her what they are doing to facilitate the developments of these type of networks…

    E.

  4. Ken McGuire Avatar
    Ken McGuire

    Those elections are coming up quicker than they’d like and if they hit my doorstep i intend to be asking that question exactly!

    Its a pipe dream to see something like this happen in Ireland, and you’re right, it would certainly drive the cost through the roof without the increased entry of private operators to bring in a little competition.

    If the mobile operators were able to make use of their existing resources and coverage to deliver a wireless service it would be excellent as its painful to watch the slow crawl of wifi access outside of Dublin to other centres around the country.

    Cheers Evert.

  5. Evert Bopp Avatar
    Evert Bopp

    Ken,

    There’s no need to despair either.
    We are working hard on the deployment of a number of wifi-hotzones covering rural areas across Ireland…

    E.

  6. Ken McGuire Avatar
    Ken McGuire

    Ah good stuff!

    Quite interested to see how it develops in the Sligo area myself (second home)

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