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The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, has
confirmed that Ireland is to be further developed as a centre of excellence for
new mobile phone technology.
The Minister was speaking at the World Mobile
Congress in Barcelona where in Martin's words, 21 "cutting edge"
Irish firms, with the support of Enterprise Ireland, are exhibiting their
expertise to 60,000 trade visitors from some of the world’s largest network
operators.
The firms are in the Ireland Pavilion "which is expected to be a major
attraction at the Congress", according to Martin. Ireland has one of
the highest levels of company participation at the event.
Minister Martin said that “The telecoms sector has shown enormous growth in
Ireland in recent years with exports of software and hardware for the
sector more than doubling since 2005, with forecasts that they will hit €260
million this year. The 21 companies exhibiting in Barcelona employ over 800
people in Ireland.”
“Irish firms have taken a lead in looking to the future of the mobile
phone. They are developing new technology which can be used in wireless
security systems, ticketing systems, weather forecasting, entertainment and even
the remote monitoring of internet use by child.”
“Our expertise has been recognised across the globe. During our recent
Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission to South Africa it was clear that there is a
demand for Irish expertise in the delivery not just of mobile phone
services but also in wireless broadband into remote areas.”
“While there are currently 3.2 billion people worldwide using phones and
other mobile technology, there are forecasts for further massive growth in
markets in Africa and Asia.”
“The Government is fully committed to the continued development of a
strong, highly innovative and export led wireless industry in Ireland.
Events such as Barcelona serve as an important reminder to leading players in
the industry that Irish firms are at the cutting edge in the research and
development of new technology”, concluded Martin.
Finfacts Comment:
We wish the 21 Irish companies well and they know that life is tougher in the
business world than what is conveyed by the former school teacher Micheál
Martin's superlatives.
Our expertise has been recognised across
the globe....that would surely be a good thing but does it require a reality
check?
On Tuesday,
Minister Martin said that
Limerick is playing a key role in supporting transition to a knowledge economy,
when he announced 75 jobs at two US firms.
Inconvenient truths
such as the top Irish tech firm IONA Technology struggling and currently the
subject of takeover speculation are of course not addressed.
As for promoting
Ireland as a platform for extending broadband services elsewhere, what can one
seriously say?
The last link on the list below, is the principal one.
