The Republic of Ireland’s communications minister is pressing ahead with plans to launch a next generation fiber network in the country, calling on energy firm ESB to help establish a trial network.
Pat Rabbitte claims the network will establish Ireland as a global technology leader and boost the country’s finances by encouraging foreign investment and creating new jobs. He called on ICT firms to sign up as partners to run a trial network, which will be coordinated by ESB.
“The Exemplar Network will give Ireland a true competitive advantage in the key area of Information and Communications Technology,” Rabbitte told delegates at the Management World Forum in Dublin, adding. “We will now bring together ICT companies who wish to be involved in and are willing to invest in the development of a Test and Trial Network.”
Establishing the test network is the second phase in the Irish government’s rollout plans for the network. Phase one covered the opening of a test laboratory in July 2010 that has been utilized by firms including BT, Ericsson and Openet.
The Exemplar program uses optical packet switching and transport (OPST) technology developed by domestic firm Intune, which the government claims boosts the efficiency of data traffic sent over fiber networks. The government states the scheme will also be the first to incorporate a web-programmable interface in the network switch.
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