This article is from page 40 of the 2009-09-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 40 JPG
AS PHASE two of the Fibre Op- tic Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) for Kilrush is about to be- gin, Cllr Ian Lynch (FG) said the town council must be ready to mar- ket this new facility and get “a head of the game” in attracting new busi- nesses to the town.
It is hoped that the broadband sys- tem will be up and running and ready for marketing by March.
While the completion of phase one has been completed for some time now, progression on phase two had been delayed while awaiting the ap- pointment of an appropriate compa- ny to manage the phase.
The announcement that elnet “Tel- ecommunications Company of the Year 2009” has been appointed by
the Government to manage, main- tain and market Phase 2 of the pro- gramme has been met with a warm welcome from the town councillor.
‘“MAWNSs plays a pivotal role in the delivery of high speed broadband to regions throughout the country at a time when the advancement of a knowledge economy has never been more important,” he said.
Broadband is to data transfer what a motorway is to a road. The fibre optic broadband cable installed in Kilrush will provide the means to move information and other data in big volumes and at high speeds to re- cipients around Ireland and all over the world.
“The ready availability of broad- band services, to enable ‘always on’ high-speed connections with high capacity, 1s very important for both
business and domestic customers,’ said Cllr Lynch.
“Tt is towns with reliable, fast con- nectivity to the outside world that will lead the way in attracting in- ward investment and creating more jobs in the future. These broadband fibre rings about to be provided pave the way for such connectivity,’ he added.
“Having $made — considerable progress with the installation of fibre networks, Kilrush must now push on to avoid playing ‘catch-up’ continu- ously with other towns in the tele- communications area.’
“The proactive response towards the MANs by Kilrush Town Council is an extremely positive step in en- suring Kilrush can be marketed as a commercial town and to potentially attract new business to the town,
making the town more attractive to, not only businesses within the IT sector but also manufacturing, health care and education.
‘Because of the Kilrush Metropoli- tan Area Networks (MANs) Kilrush is now well placed to meet the tel- ecommunications needs of bigger businesses and institutions, and 1s better able to compete on an equal footing with other locations in the country to attract new businesses to the town and indeed county,’ said Cllr Lynch.
The Fine Gael councillor is encour- aging Kilrush Town Council to coin- cide a marketing campaign strategy in conjunction with the planned elnet marketing campaign to ensure maxi- mum publicity and promotion to encourage possible future business investment in the west Clare town.