Ireland hits 600,000 broadband users
Ireland reached the milestone of 602,000 broadband connections at the end of March, after adding almost 84,000 new lines in the first quarter. That was the highest number of quarterly additions since broadband was launched in the country in 2002. Market regulator ComReg’s quarterly on the telecommunications sector showed that broadband numbers exceeded dial-up for the first time, with 58 percent of all internet subscriptions. ComReg estimates that residential broadband has reached 450,000 households, or around 30 percent of the total. Overall, the telecoms sector was worth EUR 1.2 billion in the quarter. Fixed-line revenues rose 4 percent form the previous quarter to EUR 580 million. The mobile market reached 4.7 million subscribers, equal to a penetration of 112 percent of the population. Mobile retail revenues fell 2 percent from the previous quarter to EUR 495 million.
