A survey released today by Tariff Consultancy¹ has revealed that Ireland is now the most expensive country in Europe in which to lease Data Centre capacity. After getting a broadband connection the first reaction of most people and companies is to establish a presence on the internet, usually a web site. However the cost of renting space in a datacentre is prohibitive .

This shocking report is a result of a myriad of policy failings over the medium term since around 2001, not only in the lack of an overall balanced National Broadband policy but also because our only energy policy is to have the most expensive electricity in Europe, by design. Data Centres are the very heart of any functioning knowledge economy, they are where knowledge and data is stored and and from which the kowledge underpinning the economy is distributed.

Pricing Irish business out of these Datacentres may seem smart and green to some but this smart green policy will have disastrous consequences over the medium term out to 2015, not least to our GDP. Ireland Offline calls on Minister Ryan to address these deficiencies as a matter of extreme urgency. Only 2 data centres have opened in Ireland in the past 8 years, one in Cork and one in Dublin. No more are planned.

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1) Tariff Consultancy Website http://www.telecomspricing.com/ 2)

http://www.telecomspricing.com/news_detail.cfm?item=2592 “The most expensive average Data Centre countries in our survey are Denmark, Switzerland & Ireland (with rates per rack from 1,300 Euro to 1,050 Euro per month), with cage and 50 KVA pricing being significantly less (in Euro per square metre terms).” Ireland led Europe in the quality price and availability of its Data Centres in 2001. We have built only 2 since, one in Cork and one in Dublin. Data centres are huge computer warehouses where ones data is stored, even though we are supposedly a “leader” in the knowledge economy stakes.

ABOUT IRELANDOFFLINE

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Campaigning For Affordable, Unmetered And Broadband Internet Access In Ireland IrelandOffline is a voluntary organisation consisting of home and business Internet users. Its brief is to campaign for the development of high-speed Internet access services and to promote innovation and competition in the Irish Internet marketplace. For more information on the organisation, please visit the IrelandOffline website at http://www.irelandoffline.org or contact us at info@irelandoffline.org. For urgent media enquiries, contact spokesperson Eamonn Wallace at 086 250 6350.