Martin Cullen is a Fool!



Dermot,

Tell your ministerial colleague Martin Cullen to finally get off his **** and bring in the new planning legislation he is sitting on since exactly two years now. Martin surely has done a good job with plastic bags, but the damage he is inflicting on the development of future Irish Broadband access is inexcusable.

The future of Broadband is in fibre connections to the home. We are not doing what our neighbours are doing: making provisions in the planning laws now that will enable the roll out of fibre to the home in the near future.
In the last two years that Martin sat on his new planning law we've seen the construction of new houses, making up around 4% of all houses in Ireland. Had your colleague made those planning regulations reality, these 4% of households would now either have fibre or ducting to accept fibre later at minimal cost and effort. It will not get him exiting headlines or votes in the short term, but it is too important not to be tackled immediately.


In March 2002 Cullen got an excellent report as a basis for new legislation. Dermot, please download the report here, print it out and hand it to your colleague.


Yours

John

resources:


Excerpt from the report containing the relevant section on planning issues concerning ducting etc.

"Cross-Departmental Team on Infrastructure and PPPs
Telecommunications Working Group Report March 2002


Local ducting and fibre networks

58. To minimise the cost and disruption caused by the road openings relating to telecommunications networks, it is necessary to ensure that

• there is good forward planning for future telecommunications needs
• local authorities have adequate control over necessary road works
• ducting is, as far possible, provided as part of new infrastructure build and, in the case of existing infrastructure, at the same time that other ducting is being installed
• there is a common set of planning and local authority guidelines for the installation of telecommunications infrastructures to provide consistency, transparency and certainty
• the draft ducting guidelines prepared by the Department of Public Enterprise in consultation with the Department of Environment and Local Government and local authorities are adopted as a national standard.
• road trenches and/or ducting is shared by telecommunications operators as far as possible.

59. The Group is aware that the Department of Public Enterprise’s Communications (Regulation) Bill and additional pending legislation (the Department of the Environment and Local Government’s broader Control of Road Openings Bill) will provide greater control to local authorities in this area. Insofar as the telecommunications industry is concerned, the Group considers it important that local authorities have effective power to ensure that sharing of ducting becomes the norm. Legislation should also provide for the application of common technical standards - to apply in all local authority areas - to be drawn up by the DPE and DoELG.

60. The terms of any future planning permissions should make it obligatory for the developer to lay ducting and transfer it to the local authority when building urban roads, housing and industrial estates. We understand that the Department of Environment and Local Government is considering issuing an administrative circular to local authorities to this effect."

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