Poor broadband still a major issue in rural meath td

Weak mobile phone signals for broadband coverage remain a massive issue in rural areas, despite assurances from providers, according to a local TD.
Fine Gael TD for Meath East, Helen McEntee, has expressed her ongoing frustration at the failure of mobile phone companies to provide proper mobile phone reception to rural areas.
Deputy McEntee was speaking after ComReg and officials from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, of which she is a member.
“The main mobile phone providers all claim to provide coverage to 99 per cent of the population. However, this does not mean that 99 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Ireland has acceptable coverage – far from it. Large swathes of rural areas around the country, which people live in and travel through, have sub-standard mobile phone reception and it impacts on tens of thousands of us every day. I would go so far as to say the coverage has decreased in recent years,” she said.
“The coverage I get on my commute to Dáil Eireann is an example of how bad coverage is holding people back in their efforts to communicate and go about their business. On the first 20 minutes of my journey to Dublin, whether I go through Navan or Slane, the reception is so poor that I cannot carry out conversations on my hands-free kit. This means that people living along both routes are experiencing the same frustration every day,” she said.
“Earlier this week I posted on my Facebook page expressing my annoyance about the quality of mobile phone reception and broadband in rural areas, in particular Meath. I asked people to let me know their blackspots and I was really struck by the response I got. Over 100 people commented on the issue, the vast majority of them expressed frustration with their own experience of mobile phone reception and broadband quality.”
The Meath EastFine Gael TD said she raised the question of testing with ComReg and its representatives told the Committee that it regularly carries out drive tests on mobile phone and broadband coverage. “We were told that the tender has already gone out for next year’s testing but that it only includes national routes. It is pretty clear that its testing regime is not getting the full picture as it does not carry out tests on motorways, regional roads or local roads,” she said.
“As is well-documented, the same issues apply to broadband coverage in rural areas. Lack of broadband in an area can be hugely debilitating when it comes to investment, job creation and education. Companies will not invest in an area without high-speed broadband. People cannot set up their own businesses without connectivity. Men and women cannot work from home without the internet and children and students cannot avail of online resources without the internet,” Deputy McEntee said.
“The National Broadband Recovery Programme is underway as we speak and a map is being drawn up to identify the blackspots in Ireland; however, it is clear that it is not happening quickly enough and needs to be sped up.”