Information Society

The Midland Regional Authority will continue to promote e-Inclusion in the Midland Region. Following on from the Authority's active part in the County and Group Broadband Scheme, the MRA will continue to work with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to ensure maximum broadband coverage in the Midland Region.

The Authority will provide any support required to the department on the development of the new National Broadband Scheme (NBS). The NBS will provide broadband services to the areas of Ireland that are currently unserved and ensure that every reasonable request for broadband in these unserved areas is met.

In the past the Midland Regional Authority has supported the Midland Teleworking Group in collaboration with FAS and has implemented the CAIT scheme. The Authority supported Offaly County Councils’ submission for funding under the Mobhaile initiative to address eInclusion, under the aegis of the Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB). The aim of the Mobhaile Community & Voluntary Group (C&VG) was to meet the varying demands of the sector in establishing an online presence and providing the ability to communicate with members, interested parties and citizens by means of websites, hosted intranets, and secure email and SMS gateways. The Mobhaile project was successfully roled out in 2004 and 2005

Following the provision of the Metropolitan Area Networks infrastructure. (works were completed in 2004), the Authority has consistently argued with the Dept. of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to intervene to make connections to the MANS for business cost effective. The current situation is deplorable, with few or no connections to the MANS due to the exhorbitant cost of connecting. The MRA will continue to support the role out of broadband in the region under Phase 2 & 3 of the MANs programme and will continue to press for further deregulation and cost effective connection charges by the Service Providers.

COUNTY AND GROUP BROADBAND SCHEME:

The Midland Regional Authority took an active part in the County and Group Broadband Scheme. The 2nd phase of the scheme commenced in January 2005 and ended in December 2007. The Midland Regional Authority recruited a Group Broadband Scheme Co-ordinator to promote the scheme in the Midland region. In total 19 community based projects were approved and implemented.

The scheme was open to all smaller and rural communities of less than 1,500 people. It enabled local communities to draw up and implement their own broadband plans either on their own, or in partnership with broadband service providers. Up to 55% capital funding was available for projects.The scheme was part of the National Development Plan, which was co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.