Comreg calls for Talks about Talks about Talks about LLU

Sponge Bob

Media Release- 30 May 2006
ComReg calls on all sides to re-engage in Industry Forum to facilitate progress on Local Loop Unbundling

Say please , then say please and then say please again Buttsy

ComReg has today issued an Information Notice on the status of developments relating to Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The ComReg document outlines the key milestones that are necessary to advance the LLU process which is critical to broadband availability.

the first lot of talks mentioned in the title. Comreg had a meeting about what they should have been doing since 1999 and agreed they must be seen to do something....like talks

LLU is a critical component in ensuring that consumers are provided with a wide choice of innovative and keenly-priced broadband services. LLU is central to achieving these aims, as well as contributing to the wider aim of developing Ireland’s economic competitiveness.

you ****s me not there. Why did this waffle from you lot start in 1999 and we still have no process ?

ComReg has called eircom and operators to a meeting on Wednesday, 31st May 2006 to move the outstanding issues forward.

how about to follow an intelligent process designed by a competent regulator Buttsy , eh ????...uhhhhhhhhhhh what am I saying :

While eircom and other operators have been working together in recent months to progress outstanding LLU issues, the other operators considered that eircom’s resultant proposals fell below their requirements.

and walking out Buttsy, and staying out after walking out. Working Together Comreg Style 2006 is it ?

With a view to resolving these outstanding matters between the parties, ComReg has been meeting with the parties over the past number of weeks to develop a programme to address the key issues, incorporating the following milestones:

with a view to , not 'in order to ', nuance noted Buttsy !

31 May 06 Meeting convened by ComReg for eircom and other operators to resume progress on LLU issues

drink coffee and throw paper aeroplanes around.

19 June 06 eircom to permit operators to decide the method by which broadband is delivered when customers are taking calls and line rental from other operators

over a copper pair, sure why not ?

31 July 06 ComReg to identify next steps around enabling customers to switch products and services seamlessly

define seamless dudes

8 August 06 An interim product to be available to allow customers to keep their existing phone number when changing broadband supplier

a USO Directive is not enough is it ? , biddy will buy a new biro on the 7th. You will declare a breakthrough in your last press release in the promised monthly series. I will start athread in September, "Oy Buttsy Wheres Me Press Release This Month" ?? !

8 August 06 Commence development of a long-term solution to permit customers to keep their existing phone number when changing broadband supplier

a USO Directive is still not enough is it ?

ComReg proposes to issue monthly public updates on progress on the above issues.

with a view to what exactly apart from pissing sponges off in their murky lairs ?

ComReg Commissioner, John Doherty stated “While Ireland’s adoption of broadband is gaining momentum rapidly,

Like icebergs do when they see Titanics like.

LLU remains a key catalyst for broadband supply and demand. ComReg now expects all operators to work together on this important programme. While I welcome the progress that has been made over the past four weeks, ComReg intends to monitor progress on all the agreed areas in the coming weeks and is prepared to intervene robustly, if necessary.”

robust, stronger coffee than Arabica I think.

Notes
• There are currently 330,000 broadband subscribers in Ireland, with take-up increasing by 114% in the past 12 months

3000 LLU in over 4 years or is that 4000 ?

• In the short-term, key challenges to drive consumer demand for broadband include increasing business and consumer awareness of the benefits of broadband and simulating the take-up of PC ownership and Internet usage through encouraging content and application creation.

and the usual ****e from a failed regulator in a country with crap phone lines

I must unsubscribe from this mailing list of yours Buttsy, especially if you only issue one press release every month. I guarantee you that there will be no more after about the 8th of August because this latest farrago will be dead in the water and Comreg will be on the beach.

eircomtribunal

Sponge Bob wrote:

...failed regulator...

The Register carries an article about the question whether Ofcom boss Stephen Carter, who is quitting now, was a successful one.
The Register's resume could be reverse applied to our regulatory bunch – (which has no intentions to quit).

Perhaps the best judge of Ofcom's contribution to date can be summed up by asking this simple question: would Oftel, Ofcom's predecessor, have been able to carry out the review of the telecoms industry, forced BT to sign up to more than 200 or so legally binding undertakings, and managed to kick-start local loop unbundling as a commercially viable alternative to wholesale services from BT?
The answer? Not a hope. Not in a million years. No bloody way.
If Oftel (read: ComReg) was around today it would still be tied up in knots by BT (read: Eircom). Far from carrying out a root and branches assessment of the telecoms sector it would still be holding subcommittee meetings deciding on the colour of the cover of the eventual report and whether to use Arial or Times New Roman for the text. As for the size of the text...

P.
P.S.: Mr. Mulley, will you tell us some more about the Danon experience?

damien

Mr. eircomtribunal wrote:

Mr. Mulley, will you tell us some more about the Danon experience?

Getting a document together now but a quick overview:

Monsieur Danon met four of us from IrelandOffline today. Just him, nobody else, no lawyers or spin doctors protecting him and we conversed. He was not the slightest bit defensive and not very evasive. We brought up the issues of availability, line failure rate, the FWA licence, LLU and line rental. He addressed each one of these and he appears to honestly want to increase availability and get down the failure rate as much as possible and not just talk about it. He'd outlined what he did in BT to get people broadband and has a lot of experience on how to do it properly as a result.

He also appears to have nothing against LLU once eircom get the right wholesale price for the service. A fair price he says. He'll be looking at their current price in more detail when he gets settled in to the job. I think we may agree to disagree on the price of line rental.

Overall meeting M. Danon was a refreshing change in that he invited us to meet with him, he then listened and asked questions and took notes. I think we had a franker exchange with him than we ever had with our own telecoms regulator.

viking

Irish Times

ComReg closer to network solution
By Barry O'Halloran

The State's telecoms watchdog, Comreg, took a step closer to resolving a row that has delayed the opening up of dominant player Eircom's network to its rivals.

In the latest development in a dispute involving Eircom, Comreg and the other companies in the Irish market, the regulator issued a statement detailing the initial steps that the dominant operator will have to take to allow competition.

In response, Eircom said last night that it had already begun taking these steps. "This progress is reflected in today's milestones announced by ComReg and originally proposed by Eircom," the company claimed.

Its biggest competitor, BT Ireland, welcomed the move. Chief executive Danny McLaughlin said the proposals looked great on paper, but warned that "each and every milestone has to be met".

Telecoms companies and the regulator will resume talks on the issue at a meeting that ComReg is convening today.

The key sticking point for Eircom's rivals is the manner in which it proposes to allow them access the link between its exchanges and the individual consumers and businesses on its network. Its competitors need to get direct access to this link in order to offer their own services to customers.

But most Eircom subscribers cannot switch immediately from that company to another while at the same time keeping their numbers.

The row is blamed for the slow development of high-speed or broadband services in the Republic, which in turn is hindering the State's ability to attract investment.

Under ComReg's proposals, by July 31st, the regulator will outline steps that will allow customers to switch seamlessly from one service to another. By August 8th, Eircom will have to allow customers to keep their numbers.

Irish Independent:

ComReg move puts local loop talks back on line

NEGOTIATIONS between Eircom and alternative broadband providers are back on line following a call from the Communications Regulator for progress on Local Loop Unbundling (LLU).

ComReg called Eircom and other operators to a meeting today "to move the outstanding issues forward".

The watchdog published a timetable under which Eircom will provide services to allow competing operators access to its local loop network.

ComReg Commissioner John Doherty said he would monitor progress closely and "intervene robustly, if necessary".

BT Ireland, which pulled out of the talks last month, said it would re-enter negotiations and said ComReg has published "a positive roadmap for the development of Local Loop Unbundling". Eircom said it had continued to develop solutions to LLU and that progress made was reflected in the milestones laid out by ComReg. Eircom last week agreed to a €2.4bn takeover deal with Australian firm Babcock & Brown.

Progress

ComReg said in a statement that Eircom and other operators have been working together in recent months to progress outstanding LLU issues. However, the other operators considered that Eircom's proposals fell below their requirements.

"With a view to resolving these outstanding matters between the parties, ComReg has been meeting with the parties over the past number of weeks to develop a programme to address the key issues," said the regulator.

An Eircom spokesperson commented: "Eircom is very pleased that progress has been made on these issues. Despite the absence of an industry forum, Eircom has continued to develop and implement a solution on LLU. This progress is reflected in the milestones outlined by ComReg."

ALTO, the body representing new entrant operators in Ireland's telecoms market, welcomed the publication of the roadmap but warned that "swift action" must be taken by ComReg if Eircom delayed the process. LLU is a critical component in ensuring consumers get a wide choice of well-priced broadband services.

Samantha McCaughren

Sponge Bob

The key to the development of new and innovative telecommunications services and access methods in Ireland is liberalisation. Since I was appointed, Ireland has opened up its transmission market, encouraged investment in infrastructure, cut the costs of access and provided opportunities for telecoms and cable operators, broadcasters and Internet providers to enter the market. All of this has led to greater competition and hence tangible benefits to the consumer in terms of choice, price and quality.

However many believe that local access is a significant bottleneck to development of competition in telecommunications and the Internet. I believe that Ireland needs to develop the greatest variety of feasible means of enhancing local access competition – cable, fixed wireless access and Local Loop Unbundling.

Therefore I am pleased to bring out this Decision Notice providing a framework for the development of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). LLU is an access service that can be used as a means of delivering added choice to consumers, encouraging growth of the telecommunications market and delivery of new services. It has the potential to reduce the cost of access to subscribers, complement alternative access infrastructure and offers the prospect of facilitating greater competition in access markets over the coming years. LLU should be in place in Ireland by April 2001.

and then

Although LLU is primarily a commercial matter, regulatory involvement will be needed to ensure it progresses swiftly but with due consideration to the genuine complexities involved. This is particularly important in the light of recent EC initiatives and the feeling at the recent Lisbon summit that LLU introduction should be hastened. With this in mind, I am today announcing the convening of two working groups. These will examine the complex issues surrounding operation of the LLU service and methods of access.

Special network access (SNA) is provided for in both Irish and EU legislation. The relevant provisions are set out in Regulation 20 of the European Communities (Voice Telephony and Universal Service) Regulations, 1999 (S.I. No. 71 of 1999), transposing the Voice Telephony and Universal Service Directive (98/10/EC).2 Regulation 4 of the European Communities (Interconnection in Telecommunications) Regulations (S.I. No. 15 of 1998) and Article 4(2) of the Interconnection Directive (97/33/EC) are also relevant. Key requirements include the following:

* Operators with Significant Market Power must deal with requests for access to their networks at network termination points other than those commonly provided (Special Network Access).
* The provision of such access must be at cost oriented rates and comply with the principle of non-discrimination.
* The conclusion of agreements is a matter for negotiation between the parties in the first instance.
* The National Regulatory Authority, (the Director of Telecommunications Regulation) may intervene and shall do so if requested by either party, to set terms and conditions for access and to ensure that agreements are implemented in the interests of users.

The waffle I quoted there was from Comreg (or the ODTR as it was then known ) and was published in APRIL 2000 after a consultation beginning in 1999

Over 6 Years later we hear that Comreg is back to the future and is again "announcing the convening of two working groups" or one or a talking group that may divide into two working groups which may each subdivide into 2 or more working groups or who may enjoy the communal brotherhood of coffee and paper aeroplanes.

6 More years of incompetence and regulatory torpor beckon . Abolish them now I say !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

eircomtribunal

Stephen Price, hands the blame for Ireland's broadband "situation" (as in "we've a situation here.") to ComReg and Eircom in his commentary in the Sunday Times. While he has a point, the LLU malaise is only one of the reasons for Ireland's broadband failure:

The Sunday Times June 04, 2006

Comment: Stephen Price

Twenty years ago, Ireland’s telecommunications industry comprised, in its entirety, a state monopoly that was phobic about competition. Esat was merely a gleam in Denis O’Brien’s eye, its beginnings rooted in cable television. Today our image around the world is of a country that has transformed itself into a key digital economy, a hub for Microsoft, Google and others.
One might imagine high-speed access to the internet ought to be as readily available to Irish people as it is in the UK or even relatively impoverished Lithuania. But this is not the case.

Eighteen months ago broadband had reached more than 50% of internet users in the UK. By March of this year the figure for Ireland was 31%.

Even within Dublin, network anomalies leave some in the suburbs marooned with slow connections, but outside Dublin getting a broadband connection is worse. As with many issues, the Dublin-centric media pays only lip service to this dilemma because it believes it is not affected by it and traditional Irish outlets view the internet as competition.

This is a short-sighted view. The expansion in Irish media over the past decade is a product of economic prosperity. And anything that threatens prosperity indirectly threatens media diversity.

Beyond Ireland, broadband is transforming media consumption. In the UK teenagers now spend more time online than they do watching television. On the European mainland and in the US the music industry has undergone another format shift from CD to download and sites such as MySpace.com are transforming the way bands break into the marketplace.

Most leading media brands have integrated their digital properties with their traditional formats, helping to drive customer volumes and advertising revenue. Some papers are free online, others have opted for subscriptions and limited free access.

However, there is no point in buying a newspaper online if it takes ages to download. Most now offer video and audio downloads alongside text, but just try accessing them without broadband.

Outside Ireland, broadband is changing radio, with listeners downloading programmes to replay them at times more convenient for them. And thanks to low production and distribution costs, the US has witnessed an explosion of web-only broadcasting, which in a decade’s time will be at least as common as blogging.

An outline agreement hammered out by the Hollywood studios at this year’s Cannes film festival has brought the era of simultaneous cinema and internet release a step closer.

The blame for Ireland’s feeble broadband penetration lies with Comreg, the telecom regulator, and Eircom, which, in spite of a legal requirement to let competitors on to its local loop, has made access as awkward as possible.

Large swaths of the country are still back in the days when phones barely worked and multichannel television was a daydream.

The sage and guru Gil Scott-Heron predicted the revolution will not be televised. One thing is for sure in Ireland. If it happens in the next few years, it won’t be available on broadband either.

P.

Sponge Bob

Sponge Bob wrote:

(Comreg PR 30th Of May 2006 re the talks about talks about process about talks about process about talks stuff ) "ComReg proposes to issue monthly public updates on progress on the above issues."

Today is the 30th of June. When is my mate Buttsy Issuing His First Monthly Update as he promised in May.

Sponge Bob

I want my Monthly Update as promised in May.

Otherwise I will have to say that Comreg LIED !

Foxwood

Sponge Bob wrote:

I want my Monthly Update as promised in May.

Otherwise I will have to say that Comreg LIED !

A week late.

"GLUMP" to be trial launched on August 8th.

Blaster99

Surprise, eircom fails to meet the provisioning SLA in up to 28% of LLU orders. ComReg neglects to specify how long eircom has to provision an LLU service. Anyone know?

Sponge Bob

His bio is here

Piccie Of Glump




Glump and Kai-Ra led an army of Rock Trolls upon Asgard, but found the Rainbow Bridge guarded by Fandral.

And there was me like a gob****e thinking Comreg were Bridge Trolls when they are actually the vanguard of the Rock Troll Army . Nothing surprising in Comreg trawling through Comic Books for their feckin acronyms though

damien

Am actually hearing positive noises from all sides on these LLU talks. The ComReg team looking after this too are quite bright and are there to get results.

lucernarian

Welcome news. Hopefully they won't take any nonsense from eircom. Eircom will truly need a good source of pressure if they are to budge on these issues I would imagine.

I presume eircom's attitude in the talks is cooperative otherwise there wouldn't be progress...

Sponge Bob

To_be_confirmed wrote:

I presume eircom's attitude in the talks is cooperative otherwise there wouldn't be progress...

I finally had a look at the content . The talks have quite a number of strands but there are some strange disconnects.

1. a sad lack of the word "Automated" or "Automatic". I am left with an overwhelming impression that many of these processes and products are paper trails

2. No reference to the absolute right to number portability that is in the USO ...form which right many of the processes should follow....and which should be equally easily reversible too.

3. No mentions of enforceable SLAs on the unbundled lines .

4. No mention of a central database thru which all these ports should go...and which is subject to intense monitoring of metrics by Comreg on a daily basis..... a la the Mobile Portability system which works very well and for which Comreg deserves credit .

5. The new LLU entrants (bar Colt) seem to be disengaged. I refer to Imagine and Digiweb who have openly said they will go down the LLU route once its worth the hassle as well as one or tow others who have not announced .

While GLUMP ...a shocking acronym lads....is in itself a good idea I am still left with an impression that these are all spot solutions and that there is no overall BIG plan.

I am alos left with the impression that Biddy in Mayo who does WLR will have to liase with Biddy in Cork who will assign Universal Numbers and then liase onto Biddy in Cavan who will open a job sheet for an engineer followd by Biddy in Wexford who will close the job sheet and the job

In other words I see micro processes and mini micro processes but no one central LLU process point of contact in eircom wholesale.

I also note that there is no further breakdown of orders that were behind schedule...as in how far behind schedule are the orders (28% in May) that were behind schedule and placed in that month . Is it 3 months or 6 months or what ???