[ENN]Ireland unlikely to meet broadband target

eircomtribunal

Great article again in Enn:
http://www.enn.ie/frontpage/news-9552896.html

P.

P.S.: And if You have not read our "There is something Rotten in the State of Broadband Ireland" yet, download it from here (small 305 K pdf version)

damien

From SiliconRepublic:
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?uid=test&sid=BQx3Y83b&storyid=single3800

IrelandOffline to continue broadband lobby efforts


14.09.2004 - Broadband lobby group IrelandOffline has voted to remain in existence following an extraordinary general meeting at the weekend. The organisation also plans to publish the results of an extensive survey into the state of broadband adoption in Ireland soon.
The group’s future had been in doubt over the summer following the resignation of former chairman Christian Cooke, who believed that IrelandOffline was no longer an effective means of securing affordable broadband for consumers through its lobbying efforts.

In a statement, however, the group maintained there was “an overwhelming view that IrelandOffline is now needed more than ever”. In the course of compiling its survey data the group claimed to have discovered that major obstacles still dog the widespread introduction and adoption of broadband across the country.

Damien Mulley was appointed chairman of IrelandOffline at Saturday’s meeting. He said: “Whilst there has been an impression of significant progress in broadband provision in Ireland, most of it is little more than papering over the cracks... the fact that less than 2pc of the population are broadband enabled is not something to boast about – in our opinion, it is a national disgrace.”

The group plans to release details of its survey, which polls the opinions of 1,300 consumers and small businesses, shortly and will also issue a proposal on solving some of the issues likely to be raised.

By Gordon Smith

damien

Here's the full ENN article.

At the end of March, in response to a report from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Broadband, Communications Minister Dermot Ahern issued a directive to ComReg to encourage, and remove all barriers to, the roll out of broadband. The goal of this policy was to increase DSL penetration to the average level of the original 15 EU members. Ireland is currently number 14 in the EU-15 rankings, ahead of Greece and would need to have a total 350,000 connections to reach the EU-15 average.

At the end of August, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (DCMNR) issued a press release celebrating the fact that Ireland now had 70,000 DSL broadband subscribers. The release noted that the telecom operators were adding around 2,000 new subscribers per week, which means that Ireland is on target to have 100,000 subscribers by Christmas. At this rate, the country will only have 150,000 subscribers by the middle of 2005, less than half of the number required by the Minister Ahern.

"Fourteen months ago we had 3,000 users, now we have 75,000, we've come a long way," a spokesperson for the Department of Communications told ElectricNews.Net. "As the price keeps changing it continues to improve and we'll push as hard as we can."

"It's very unlikely that we're going to reach 350,000," adds Peter Evans, product director at Esat BT, speaking to ElectricNews.net. "The number of new subscribers plods along. When there's a price decrease there's a bit of impetus; there was a jump in sign-ups after the last price decrease."

The problem, according to Evans, is that there are only 1.5 million households in the state and that only 40 percent of those houses have PCs. This means that there are only 600,000 potential customers for broadband DSL.

"If you take it that 50 percent of the country can get broadband, they're still not buying it," he explained. He said that issues of pricing, computer security and child protection were issues that may deter consumers from signing up for broadband.

The fact that 50 percent of the population can't get DSL is a structural deterrent to the adoption of broadband. Many Irish exchanges have not yet been enabled for broadband and even people whose exchanges have been enabled are often told that their lines are unsuitable for the service. In the UK, only 1 percent of the lines tested for DSL are found to be unsuitable for the service, but in Ireland the fail rate is around 30 percent. British Telecom is also able to provide DSL up to six kilometres from the exchange, whereas Eircom is unlikely to provide a reliable service more than 3.5 kilometres from the exchange.

It is estimated that upgrading Eircom's network to provide 100 percent DSL coverage could cost as much as EUR1 billion. In its latest quarterly results, the company showed that its total capital expenditure, on every aspect of its operation, was only EUR57 million, down from EUR69 million in the same quarter of the previous year.

Damien Mulley chairman of pressure group Ireland Offline reckons that the limited availability of broadband means that people are not convinced of its utility. "The reports from the Information Society and the Joint Oireachtas Committee prove that if you build it, they will come," Mulley says.

dahamsta

eircomtribunal wrote:

P.S.: And if You have not read our "There is something Rotten in the State of Broadband Ireland" yet, download it from here (small 305 K pdf version)

LOL "eircon fat-rat". Priceless.