Investment in Telecoms Networks over-estimated

Sponge Bob

So now we need to restate investment down by 2 years worth at peak , $1bn and restate every year back to 2002, inclusive. God knows what else we told the OECD over the years

http://irelandoffline.org/2011/04/616/

IrelandOffline has studied data on Investment By The Telecommunications Industry in Ireland as supplied by Comreg/DCENR to the OECD and as separately supplied to The EU Commission. We have found some glaring discrepancies and most particularly in the data supplied by Comreg/DCENR to the OECD over the past decade.


These discrepancies deliberately overstate Investment in Telecommunications in Ireland by around $1bn or near enough 2 average years of real investment by the Irish Telecommunications industry over the period in question to 2007.

P. Breathnach

From the piece you linked:

Our analysis of the data indicates that Comreg/DCENR have cumulatively misrepresented real investment in Telecommunications Networks in Ireland by Up To $1Bn dollars. This was apparently done simply by not providing any data at all to the OECD since 2003 thereby leading the OECD to ‘extrapolate’ figures in their absence.

Not providing data is misrepresentation, is it?

later12

This thread title is extremely misleading. No matter how one interprets it, Comreg/DCENR failed to provide certain information to the OECD, therefore the OECD made an estimate in its place; to suggest that this is the equivalent of deliberately providing false information is just plain wrong.

Scofflaw

That thread title was highly inaccurate. If what has happened is that ComReg haven't furnished the data, and the OECD has made estimations that are inaccurate, that it entirely different from "Irish Government Caught Furnishing False Data to OECD". If you don't furnish data, it can't possibly be false.

moderately,
Scofflaw

Sponge Bob

later10 wrote: »

This thread title is extremely misleading. No matter how one interprets it, Comreg/DCENR failed to provide certain information to the OECD, therefore the OECD made an estimate in its place; to suggest that this is the equivalent of deliberately providing false information is just plain wrong.

Comreg DCENR refused to provide data and when the OECD extrapolated investment ....based on what other countries were doing...they refused to correct the extrapolation figures.

Consequently the extrapolation compounded dramatically and grossly distorted the figures. Actual investment was around $2bn in that period not the $3bn the OECD shows.

Comreg/DCENR were threatened by O Reilly/Valentia around 2002/3 and that is why they stopped supplying hard data to the OECD as they had prior to that.

The problem is that O Reilly/Valentia legged it , largely at flotation #2 in 2004 and completely and with very a handsome profit in 2006 but Comreg/DCENR did not correct matters at that time when they should have. They should have restated correct figures to the OECD by 2006 when they would have to correct 2002-2005 at worst and claim duress. This they chose not to do.

This gross distortion of the figures has continued since...that is the wonderful nature of compounding in action Now is the time to restate the lot back to 2002 and clean up the mess.

We will get no outside investment in the Irish Telecoms market as long as the official figures are grossly suspect ...thanks to the Government and Regulator. We have no choice but to fully restate now as well as apologise to the OECD for the bloody mess

ardmacha

ComReg are good candidates for part of the PS that "is not fit for purpose".
This is not just incidental. Proper regulation of telecoms costs could be a material factor in promoting economic growth.

Scofflaw

ardmacha wrote: »

ComReg are good candidates for part of the PS that "is not fit for purpose".
This is not just incidental. Proper regulation of telecoms costs could be a material factor in promoting economic growth.

It's an extraordinary piece of poor work, whether one takes the view that it was culpably deliberate or merely incompetently deliberate.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Sponge Bob

I hear Comreg are sticking hard to the line that they did not have the data even though the evidence is that they did have the data.

What kind of gob****e regulator admits in public that it has absolutely no idea of Gross and Net(after depreciation) Capital Investment figures in the Industry it regulates. ??