New entrants to Irish broadband market will drive down prices, says ComReg

bealtine

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/30860-new-entrants-to-irish/

New entrants to Ireland’s broadband market – which is hurtling in the direction of superfast broadband and 4G services – will increase downward pressure on prices and upward pressure on quality and bundles, ComReg chairman Alex Chisholm said.

Chisholm said that at the end of the third quarter of 2012, there were 1.6m broadband subscribers in Ireland, a 0.4pc increase year-on-year and total broadband per capita stood at 36.1pc.

Household penetration of broadband stands at 65pc compared with an EU average of 65pc, just behind the EU average of 68pc.

The share of residential broadband users with speeds of 10Mbps or more has tripled in the last two years to reach 23pc.

There is room for improvement in terms of speed and quality. Ireland is 15th in the world and ninth in Europe when it comes to speeds, according to the most recent Akamai report.

Opportunities on the horizon for this picture to improve include the arrival of 4G in the coming months – following a lucrative €855m spectrum auction – and new bundled superfast broadband packages as competition intensifies between Eircom and UPC.

This pressure will be augmented no doubt by the capabilities of 4G services in built-up urban areas where speeds of between 60Mbps and (dare I say it) more than 150Mbps have been promised by enthusiastic mobile operators.

When Sky arrives in Ireland's broadband market ...
Then there is also the arrival of Sky’s broadband services in the Irish market to consider. Neither Eircom or UPC will be enthusiastic about this development. As part of a major deal with BT, Sky will launch its Broadband and Talk services in a move that will lead to 900 jobs in Dublin.

It clearly means business. Sky currently serves 10.5m homes across Ireland and the UK with TV services, including 3D TV, HD TV, mobile apps and on-demand content.

In his end-of-year statement, Chisholm said: “There have been a number of positive signs of progress over the year with strong competitive forces and consumer emphasis on value putting downward pressure on prices, and upward pressure on quality and coverage levels, particularly for the increasingly popular 'bundles' of telephony, broadband and television services. ComReg’s regulatory interventions in relation to wholesale broadband services have helped to stimulate competitive pressures.

“Expected new entry to the market early next year will intensify these pressures, as will the further build-out of high-speed broadband networks announced by operators in recent months,” Chisholm said.

ComReg’s hands will be full in 2013, ensuring that new entrants like Sky, as well as existing players, can access the local loop with exciting new fibre-to-the-kerb bundles based on VDSL and that Eircom sticks to its promise to 'reform wholesale'.

Ultimately the real winner here will be the Irish business owner or consumer who may finally get the prices and speeds enjoyed elsewhere in Europe. Fingers crossed.

clohamon

bealtine wrote: »

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/item/30860-new-entrants-to-irish/

The share of residential broadband users with speeds of 10Mbps or more has tripled in the last two years to reach 23pc.

There is room for improvement in terms of speed and quality. Ireland is 15th in the world and ninth in Europe when it comes to speeds, according to the most recent Akamai report.

While he continues to quote contracted speeds rather than actual speeds and uses fixed line statistics to extrapolate national statistics, Mr Chisholm will have no credibility.

As ComReg no longer regulates rural areas there doesn't seem much point in having it at all. The cities can already look after themselves.

ComReg costs €25M a year to run. Its a grotesque waste of money and no amount of self-serving puff is going to change that.

watty

Yet number of Engineers on the Road is only FIVE!

It takes them up to 9 months to resolve simple complaints where all the work has been done for them.

They are simply a revenue collection outfit.

bealtine

clohamon wrote: »

While he continues to quote contracted speeds rather than actual speeds and uses fixed line statistics to extrapolate national statistics, Mr Chisholm will have no credibility.

As ComReg no longer regulates rural areas there doesn't seem much point in having it at all. The cities can already look after themselves.

ComReg costs €25M a year to run. Its a grotesque waste of money and no amount of self-serving puff is going to change that.

You wouldn't dare accuse Comreg of lying now would you?

watty

Not as such. But if you are not sharp you might confuse what they are saying with something else you expect to hear.

Kukutis

I agree entirely !

Cheerful Spring

The fact is rural dwellers will never have good broadband. I think we need to accept this and just get on with.

We can complain, but who listens?

Eircom UPC Vodaphone Meteor 02 we know were they'll invest into the next few years. A few country towns might see fibre by thats another 4 years or more off from, now.

So by 2020 theres a good chance most rural exchanges will be using DSL

oscarBravo

Cheerful Spring wrote: »

The fact is rural dwellers will never have good broadband electricity. I think we need to accept this and just get on with.

...

bealtine

oscarBravo wrote: »

Originally Posted by Cheerful Spring
The fact is rural dwellers will never have good broadband electricity. I think we need to accept this and just get on with.
...

You mean to say culchees need electricity too? WTF do they expect roads and other stuff too?

0ph0rce0

Nothing In This Country Goes Down In Price....

What they mean is it will get more expensive. :rolleyes:

Cheerful Spring

bealtine wrote: »

You mean to say culchees need electricity too? WTF do they expect roads and other stuff too?

For one roads are maintained and paid for because the Irish government has means of taxing us to pay for it. As regards to electricity, ESB its semi state company, and having to answer to government, their obliged to provide a similar service to all who live in this country.

Internet companies make their own rules, where they'll invest their cash. If there was true government involvement with broadband, we would not have exchanges still using ASDL1 technology.

watty

The Electricity prices were MASSIVELY raised to create illusory Competition with "cheaper" prices, that are more expensive than if the regulator hadn't inflicted it.

You can't have real competition on things that naturally should only have one infrastructure.

thebman

watty wrote: »

The Electricity prices were MASSIVELY raised to create illusory Competition with "cheaper" prices, that are more expensive than if the regulator hadn't inflicted it.

You can't have real competition on things that naturally should only have one infrastructure.

Well in such a situation, the government *should* control infrastructure and let companies compete for the service provided and customer support levels.

But that would require logic and thinking things out and ignoring lobbying by vested interests etc...