Ladies and Gentlemen,

When I knew I was going to be here today, I decided to wander around some of the offices in my Department. Just to see how information technology is being used there - given that it’s our job to drive new, innovative changes in the Telecommunications sector. Changes that’ll impact the way we work, the way we do our daily work. Changes that’ll have dramatic effects on the nation as a whole.

In one office, I walked in on a group all clustered around one work station. Turned out they were all using Google Earth to take an aerial view of where they live. Unbelievable, watching the map of Ireland, then a county, then a townland, then a road and - hey, look, there’s the roof of Aileen’s new house, right beside the Martello tower.

The funny thing is how Aileen’s house - being viewed courtesy of modern communications technology - was right beside the Martello tower. Because we tend to think of Martello towers as defensive in nature - but they were the source of commercial information, in their time.

A ship would be spotted off Dublin bay. The Martello tower in Howth would identify that it was carrying spice - laden down with cinnamon. From the roof of the tower, a signal would go to the next tower. Each was built within line of sight of the next. So, within minutes of the ship’s arrival in Dublin Bay, people in Donegal knew that a supply of spice was on the way - if they bid the right price on it.

It’s not easy to see Martello towers as a communications technology but that’s what they were. And, like all such technologies, they made a major contribution to economic growth.

Today, emerging technologies can do the same. And more. They can provide Ireland with a unique competitive advantage.

The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is currently analysing and implementing a wide range of innovative technologies and services throughout Ireland. Just recently, for example, my Department officially launched Waterford Institute of Technology as the designated ‘National IPv6 Centre’ on the 30th September 2005.

Internet Protocol (IP) is a computer addressing system, allowing each device connected to the Internet to be uniquely identified. Given the uptake in the use of the Internet, the number of unique addresses provided by the current IPv4 Protocol has been identified as a potential restriction on the development of the Internet.

The IPv6 Protocol (Internet Protocol Version Six) will now provide enough unique Internet addresses to meet all the requirements of the Internet for the foreseeable future. This will solve the problem of domain name shortages. You’ll remember that one of the founders of the Internet (Vint Cerf) once said that “Running out of IP addresses is like the world running out of oil.”

One significant advantage of IPv6 is that it’ll allow the convergence of mobile and fixed line communications. Great prospect. Obviously important. Perhaps limitless in its potential.

As the Internet develops and information and communication technologies continue to race ahead, they will bring sweeping economic and social change. New technologies, such as IPv6, will give Ireland and the EU with some of the tools we need to maintain competitiveness, and bridge the digital divide regionally and nationally.

I am particularly impressed with VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). Comreg research shows that 48% of corporates and 26% of SME’s plan to use a VoIP service in the next 12 months. I’m not at all surprised. It simply makes good sense, not just in cost terms but in security terms, too.

One of the big generational differences is that the notion of separate machines to do separate tasks just doesn’t have any traction in younger minds. In a world of accelerated technical development, emerging technologies can deliver a combination of services, such as television, telephony and broadband access.

I’ve proposed that a digital terrestrial television pilot programme be developed in Ireland. The purpose of the pilot is to get a move-on to the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting and to test and trial various aspects of the service. It is expected that agreements will be in place on foot of procurement by the end of the year and that the infrastructure will be rolled out in early 2006. As the pilot is developed and proposals for a national DTT rollout emerge, I’ll outline my intentions regarding possible dates for a switch-off of analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasts.

Moving away from DTT and IPv6, we can see the effects of emerging technology and services within the mobile phone telecommunications sector. Along with VoIP, third-generation phones are now penetrating the mobile phone industry and businesses alike. 3G mobiles have the potential to significantly impact on both mobile and internet use in the future.

Surveys estimate that 76% of consumers in Europe will use internet-enabled mobile phones on a regular basis by 2008 (Source: ComReg). The strength of 3G is its ability to provide seamless roaming across International borders, and offers the potential for cheap voice services through generous minute bundling by 3G operators.

While 3G currently focuses on high end subscribers, a gradual decline in prices, and a move towards generous voice and data bundles may drive substitution of traffic from fixed to mobile. Any such traffic migration is likely to increase as the pricing differential between fixed and 3G starts to narrow.

The success of 3G will be determined by consumer appetite for content-based services, in addition to low-cost voice. However “beyond 3G” networks (4G+) may provide the best future opportunity for high-speed data over mobile. I figure you’ll hear more about 3G services today from other speakers and I look forward to hearing their comments on its application.

But let’s be honest.

No matter how good are the speakers at a conference like this, we all know that the real stuff happens over coffee, during lunch, in the corridors as conversations start and ideas spark.

It’s important to register that offline potential. You will remember - from your history books, none of you are old enough to remember the reality - that during World War II, posters in Britain warned people against talking casually.

“Careless talk costs lives,” was the line at the bottom of the poster.

The opposite applies here today, where careless talk could stimulate new ideas and possibilities.

So I hope that - in formal and informal session - the conference serves as a catalyst for fresh thinking.

Thank you.

ENDS