Ireland is high-speed Net slowcoach: EC

dahamsta

Typical Etain Doyle Comreg. Spin and save face rather than fess up and try to do something about it.

adam /makes chicken noises and flaps arms

Ireland is high-speed Net slowcoach: EC
Friday, November 21 2003
by Dick O'Brien

The European Commission has found that Ireland is still lagging behind in terms of broadband penetration compared to other countries in the European Union.

The news came with the publication of the Commission's 9th Report on the Implementation of the Telecommunications Regulatory Package. The Commission found that Ireland was second from bottom with a broadband penetration rate of 0.25 percent. The EU average is 4.66 percent and some countries such as Denmark and Belgium have penetration rates in excess of 10 percent. Only Greece performed worse than Ireland, with a penetration rate of 0.02 percent. Indeed, the Commission excluded Ireland and Greece from its broadband analysis because of the low number of connections. The Commission noted that the number of broadband lines in the EU had more than doubled from 400,000 to 828,000.

Irish telecoms regulator ComReg on Thursday released a statement which said that progress is now being made on DSL with the level of take-up now exceeding 1 percent of total subscriber lines. "This represents a significant increase since the initial data was collated by the European Commission. A key part of this growth followed the reduction in the very high level of prices here. Currently over 1,200 customers per week are ordering DSL. While this is clearly an improvement, prices are still high by international standards and if penetration levels -- on a par with best practice -- are to be achieved then further competition through lower prices will be necessary," the statement said.

[...]

dahamsta

http://www.enn.ie/frontpage/news-9382379.html

Comreg Prepares For Imminent Backdown!

The Irish Independent reports that communications regulator ComReg has said that Eircom has less than two months to enable its customers to select an alternative telecoms provider for leased lines without a break in service. Eircom has three weeks in which to lay out its proposals for a cost-oriented product, which will then be implemented within a month.

Minister Readies Red Face, Prepares Finger For Pointing At Greece!

The paper also says that Communications Minister Dermot Ahern is to host a roundtable discussion with key players in ICT during Ireland's EU presidency. Ahern said the meeting will focus on the rollout of broadband in EU countries.

adam

spongebob

Originally posted by dahamsta
Minister Readies Red Face, Prepares Finger For Pointing At Greece!

The paper also says that Communications Minister Dermot Ahern is to host a roundtable discussion with key players in ICT during Ireland's EU presidency. Ahern said the meeting will focus on the rollout of broadband in EU countries.

adam [/B]

The meeting in question is planned for Carlingford in his own constituency. That is because BT can provide a 10Ghz or 26Ghz link with a 34Mbit pipe within a month of being asked . Eircom will not do it for the minister for fear of showing how easy it is, not even in Dundalk.

BT will then shoot the link from Kilkeel across the border into Carlingford, about 4 KM across the Lough. Technically is is illegaland an invasion of our Regulatory space ...BUT

a) Comreg will not DO anything about it so it doesn't matter.
b) Most of the attendance KNOW what BB is so Dermot can't very well pawn them off witha 256k VSAT Uplink and has to go the symettrical route with big pipe, otherwise we Irish would look like complete retards.
c) Eircom are allegedly being very helpful.....to BT that is.......by keeping their heads down and their mouths shut.

M

Mr_Man

Muck,

if what you are saying is true, and I've no reason to doubt it, then it really does show how farcical things have gotten in Ireland. I wonder what our fellow European's would think if they knew the contortions we had to go through to get decent communications, probably a mixture of pity and amusement.

M.

LFCFan

maybe someone should gatecrash the meeting and explain to everyone the situation and the fact that the connection being used is not even coming from Ireland etc etc. Even the threat of such action could be enough to force Comreg's hand on the matter and make €ircom comply. It's a sick joke that BT has to be called in to provide the link

spongebob

The other alternative is to move the conference to Dublin where these speeds can be supported quite easily. Having a slow connection at at EU ICT conference with loads of Tech journos covering it is the golden no-no . Ahern would sooner move the conference to Dublin than to risk that.

M

bealtine

quote:

maybe someone should gatecrash the meeting and explain to everyone


Perhaps we should all go to the meeting "en mass" and cause a real embarassment.

Maybe the time for direct action is on us?

dahamsta

Originally posted by bealtine
Maybe the time for direct action is on us?

About bloody time. Go on, give us muckers a day out.

adam

yellum

Yeah, an Ireland Offline field trip ! Begs the back of the bus ! Oh the songs we'll sing while drinking Tanora and eating penny sweets on our way there and back. Pockst full of coins our relations gave us for our big day out. Wooo !

spongebob

wherever the gig is held we have a lot of things to celebrate together in early 2004

1. The most expensive analogue lines in the EU = €22.50 a month.
2, The most expensive entry level incumbent provided DSL in the EU = €54.50 a month
3. 14% of Irish Exchanges to be DSL upgraded, 86% not to be upgraded and no plans to do so either.

We should make sure that the entire ICT community in Europe gets to know about this, it will give the journos something to write home about,

This wil be the first EU jolly for the Estonians and the Slovenians who consistently score better than us in international Telecomms and ICT indexes. We want to welcome them aboard and to reassure them that Ireland will not be a serious competitor to them.

Then have a Boards International Beer and invite them all over , why not.

It would be a jolly day out for all and sundry and no doubt about it.

M

Mr_Man

A few professional printed placards, with the messages Muck outlined, strategically placed around the entrance could do wonders for the cause. With the kind of message going out to hundreds of millions of Europeans Dermot would have an interesting time trying to explain it to his collegues, and it might be enough to get him to put real pressure on Comreg to get off their arse and do something for the consumer in Ireland.

Anybody game for a trip to the Cooley now that they've gone and built a nice new motorway part of the way ?

M.

bealtine

quote:
A few professional printed placards, with the messages Muck outlined

//

nerds in suits:)

I firmly believe that if we want to get maximum coverage that this is certainly
one way to go.

We'll get massive international coverage and embarass the f*ck out of
the incumbents and the "guvmint" too...

I'll get out my best business suit for the day:-)