Progress for fibre optic networks in West Cork
Issued : Friday 10 February, 2012
Areas : Bantry, Dunmanway, Kinsale, Skibbereen
Labour TD for Cork South-West Michael McCarthy has welcomed confirmation that progress is being made on fibre optic infrastructural projects in West Cork.
Deputy McCarthy said: “Last week I raised this issue with the Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte in the Dáil during a Topical Issues debate and he confirmed to me that there has been notable progress in terms of the Kinsale and Dunmanway Metropolitan Area Networks, or MANs.
To date, some MANs in West Cork have been lying in a dormant state since their installation a few years ago and efforts have been made ever since to get them connected to a backhaul service, also known as going ‘live’, when end users can then avail of the service.
According to Minister Rabbitte, the MAN in Dunmanway, which has been in an inactive state for years, will finally go live next month, meaning that businesses in the town will soon have the option to avail of enhanced broadband and telecommunications infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the MAN in Kinsale is due to be completed this year and handed over to Enet once completed.
Already the MAN in Bantry is delivering telecommunications services to that area, while to date the Skibbereen MAN has yet to go live because there has been insufficient demand for the service. However, Minister Rabbitte did signal to me that he would be willing to facilitate a meeting between Enet and local business representatives in Skibbereen to outline the advantages of the scheme with a view to pushing the project forward.
I want to commend the Minister and his Department for progressing this issue and prioritising the infrastructural needs of towns like Kinsale at a time when rural businesses need it most.”
