The Republic has sunk to 51st place on the World Economic Forum's global index of broadband availability, according to a new report.
The Republic trails many developing world countries, scoring lower than Tunisia, El Salvador, Namibia, Peru, Nicaragua, Botswana, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, and Romania. Broadband availability refers to the high speed cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) connections available to the public.
The calculations are included in the WEF's annual World Information Technology report, released last week, which considers statistics from 82 countries across a wide range of areas.
The lowest marks come in the area of high speed and public internet access, with the Republic coming in at only 31st for public availability of internet access through libraries, telecenters, post offices, and other locations. This trails Peru, Estonia and Argentina. The State ranks 24th in the availability of mobile internet access.
The broadband ranking will come as an embarrassment to the State, though the Government has recently begun the rollout of 19 fibre networks in Irish cities and towns. The report indicates that other nations, especially many of those expected to challenge the Republic for foreign investment, sped ahead with public internet projects while the Government debated investments and strategies here.
While the Government has given much emphasis to the high quality of education within the State, the report reveals that the Republic comes in at only 37th for the number of secondary school age students actually enrolled in school - only 77 per cent of the population of school-going age remains in class through secondary school. The illiteracy rate of those over 15 remains high, with the Republic at 28th place.
The report also reveals that the Republic is a relatively costly place for both owning a telephone and making a mobile phone call. The State ranks 41st for the monthly cost of having a telephone subscription, and 39th for the cost of a three minute local phone call from a landline.
The Republic's overall scorecard for a much broader range of factors - an evaluation the report refers to as a nation's network-readiness - places it 21st among the 82 countries considered.
