NBP part II

KOR101

July and August .....

At least in TUD, most locations are still on 100mbit speeds. It's symmetrical, but whereas before it was outstanding, it's lagging a bit now.

Marlow

KOR101 wrote: »

July and August .....

At least in TUD, most locations are still on 100mbit speeds. It's symmetrical, but whereas before it was outstanding, it's lagging a bit now.

FTTH would not be the solution to that though.

Simply because the 100 Mbit/s they have is uncontended. FTTH is not. And that proves my point in reality.

/M

ED E

KOR101 wrote: »

July and August .....

At least in TUD, most locations are still on 100mbit speeds. It's symmetrical, but whereas before it was outstanding, it's lagging a bit now.

Still only nudges 3Gbps daily avg in peak. Thats for 15,000 odd users.


TUD depends on the campus. There are a few good bits of network but generally its far inferior. Hopefully they can enroll enough Korean and Chinese students to pay for some decent APs.

KOR101

Not sure that this has been decided yet.

An Oireachtas committee is to recommend that a majority of the directors of the company set to supply broadband to hundreds of thousands of rural homes should be appointed by the State.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/committee-to-recommend-state-oversight-of-broadband-board-1.3981046

The Cush

Sir Timmy and the Committee have become a sideshow, like the PAC's report on broadband published last month, the Communications Committee's report will be ignored and end up on the proverbial shelf gathering dust. The only good thing is it kept them occupied for the last few months, devil idle hands, etc. etc.

Can't see anything from the Committee derailing the process now so close to signing

Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naugthon, who chairs the committee, says the contract should be signed quickly, saying that no evidence exists that a “reliable, cheaper or practical alternative” to the National Broadband Plan exists.

“It is the view of the committee that contracts should be signed, subject to due diligence and the buildout of rural broadband commence as soon as possible. This is essential to the future of rural Ireland and to achieving balanced regional development.”

westyIrl

NBI CEO Peter Hendrick on Tipp FM yesterday;

https://tippfm.com/podcasts/nbi-ceo-broadband-plan-will-affect-tipp/


Jim

KOR101

westyIrl wrote: »

NBI CEO Peter Hendrick on Tipp FM yesterday;

https://tippfm.com/podcasts/nbi-ceo-broadband-plan-will-affect-tipp/


Jim

He says that once the contract is signed, their website will allow people to enter their Eircode and get an estimated date for connection. I wonder about the politics of this and can just imagine all the stories about people with dates 5-7 years hence. It is the way to do it, but......

clohamon

KOR101 wrote: »

He says that once the contract is signed, their website will allow people to enter their Eircode and get an estimated date for connection. I wonder about the politics of this and can just imagine all the stories about people with dates 5-7 years hence. It is the way to do it, but......

They should put the 100 areas on Lotto balls and pull them out in order of deployment, on TV.
(Not forgetting the man/woman from KPMG to make sure it's all kosher)

Johnboy1951

I would hope they only declare those areas to be completed withing six or 12 months or so.
That could be updated every month with plenty of time for changes to be made should issues arise.

celticbhoy27

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

I would hope they only declare those areas to be completed withing six or 12 months or so.
That could be updated every month with plenty of time for changes to be made should issues arise.

TBH I hope they give a fairly accurate indication from the get go. If you are 3 years etc down the line so be it. Gives you the opportunity to sign. Contract with a wisp in the meantime. Be annoying checking every few months

ussjtrunks

How did they decide where to connect people to electricity 1st when they rolled that out?

I think it’s be abit fairer to people if people could sign up for a connection and they prioritized areas that had the most signups instead of doing it randomly.

Johnboy1951

ussjtrunks wrote: »

How did they decide where to connect people to electricity 1st when they rolled that out?

I think it’s be abit fairer to people if people could sign up for a connection and they prioritized areas that had the most signups instead of doing it randomly.

It won't be random ..... you can be certain it will have some sound commercial reason for whatever method they use to decide in what order to do the roll out.

clohamon

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

It won't be random ..... you can be certain it will have some sound commercial reason for whatever method they use to decide in what order to do the roll out.

This being Ireland there'll be hell to pay if it's not a transparent process. You can imagine TDs getting a lot of stick if areas in their constituency are in the bottom half of the schedule for no apparent reason.

Equally there'll be an inquest if constituencies with FG TDs/Ministers are seen to have done better.

Orebro

I think most people, myself included, won't mind the wait because the fact it's being rolled out is enough and an unbelievably better place to be than having no NBP.

I would imagine though that every county will get a taste of it in the first stage, they couldn't be seen to be concentrating all efforts in the one county for purely political reasons.

grbear

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

TBH I hope they give a fairly accurate indication from the get go. If you are 3 years etc down the line so be it. Gives you the opportunity to sign. Contract with a wisp in the meantime. Be annoying checking every few months

Hard to disagree with that. I held back on signing up for Airwire because everytime I contacted Eir(com back then) they would assure me that my exchange was due to be upgraded in the next wave. Like a fool I stayed another six months using my mobile tethered to my PC before finally signing up for Airwire. It was another eight months before Eir actually upgraded the exchange.

If this proposed postcode checker gives a reasonably accurate installation date then people will know just what their options are.

celticbhoy27

Orebro wrote: »

I think most people, myself included, won't mind the wait because the fact it's being rolled out is enough and an unbelievably better place to be than having no NBP.

I would imagine though that every county will get a taste for it in the first stage, they couldn't be seen to be concentrating all efforts in the one county for purely political reasons.

Don't have anything to quote but I've read that works will begin in all counties at same time. It's not going to be a case of do a bit in Kilkenny onto Carlow the next day. There will be crews in each county

The Cush

westyIrl wrote: »

NBI CEO Peter Hendrick on Tipp FM yesterday;

https://tippfm.com/podcasts/nbi-ceo-broadband-plan-will-affect-tipp/

Just listened back to the interview, always good to get new information from the horse's mouth so to speak.

One thing stood out that no one corrected incl. the interviewee, the person interviewed was Peter Hendrick, yet he was introduced and thanked at the end as Peter Hopkins. The radio station website also misnames him as Peter Hopkins.

KOR101

The Cush wrote: »

One thing stood out that no one corrected incl. the interviewee, the person interviewed was Peter Hendrick, yet he was introduced and thanked at the end as Peter Hopkins. The radio station website also misnames him as Peter Hopkins.

Maybe they're all actors. Well they fooled us on the moon landings......

Airwire: MartinL

grbear wrote: »

Hard to disagree with that. I held back on signing up for Airwire because everytime I contacted Eir(com back then) they would assure me that my exchange was due to be upgraded in the next wave. Like a fool I stayed another six months using my mobile tethered to my PC before finally signing up for Airwire. It was another eight months before Eir actually upgraded the exchange.

I'm not sure, how far back this is.

But if for example a service gets enabled for your premise that suits yourself better (like when you're on fixed wireless and FTTH comes along) and you're in contract with us, we can always change that for you, as long as the service is in our portfolio.

Our portfolio currently covers 2 generations of fixed wireless, VDSL, OpenEIR and SIRO FTTH. We have been negotiating with eNet on access to their FTTx platform in Loughrea and we will be negotiating with NBI, should the contract get signed.

That way binding you to a contract (at least with us) doesn't really matter.

The Cush

In the SBP later today, this from in front of the paywall

Broadband firms in stand-off with state

State in process of nailing down final number of premises National Broadband Ireland must cover:
Department has requested ‘legally binding commitments’ from operators, but firms have refused

Internet providers will not enter into official agreements with the government to roll out high-speed broadband across the country, in a move that could cause considerable uncertainty for the state’s multibillion-euro rural broadband scheme, The Sunday Business Post understands.

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), a firm owned by US businessmen David McCourt and Walter Scott Jr, has been named as the preferred bidder for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) which intends to cover about 540,000...

https://www.businesspost.ie/business/broadband-firms-stand-off-state-449917

I assume this is about the Dept's latest consultation on Conclusion of the NBP Mapping Exercise for the Intervention Area - https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/communications/consultations/Pages/Conclusion-of-NBP-Mapping-Exercise.aspx/

Without seeing the full article, is this really a story anymore? We know eir will not sign any further commitments to roll out commercial fibre into the intervention area as they have said many times and SIRO aren't in anyway interested.

tsue921i8wljb3

The Cush wrote: »

In the SBP later today, this from in front of the paywall



I assume this is about the Dept's latest consultation on Conclusion of the NBP Mapping Exercise for the Intervention Area - https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/communications/consultations/Pages/Conclusion-of-NBP-Mapping-Exercise.aspx/

Without seeing the full article, is this really a story anymore? We know eir will not sign any further commitments to roll out commercial fibre into the intervention area as they have said many times and SIRO aren't in anyway interested.

eir may not sign contract about passing more premises in the intervention area but that is not the same as saying they will not extend into the area.

Obviously the DCCAE and NBI want a clear indication that X number of premises will be in the IA at contract signature with a clear roadmap of premises over the life of the contract. Now they are left in a sort of limbo where eir or others, though most likely eir, can pass premises at their leisure. Bear in mind that eir will have all the NBI network plans as the make ready work will have to be undertaken before NBI can extend into the IA. All eir have to do is get to enough premises first so that the NBI business case falls apart.

Not being able to finalise the map is just throwing more uncertainty onto an already uncertain project.

KOR101

Emmanuel Lemon Louse wrote: »

All eir have to do is get to enough premises first so that the NBI business case falls apart.

It really depends on how the contract is structured. It could be structured as essentially a cost recovery plus ROI. I know there are subsidies in two parts, one for passing and another for connecting but is this the only payment to NBI. The Department does seem to be 'on the ball' about the risks and who bears what. It's hard to imagine that this has not been addressed.

You would know more about this than me, so I am just asking to understand. If it is just the subsidies, then you are right about big risks to the business case and EIR aren't just going to sit there and let this happen. Unless the plan is to buy NBI down the line.

Also, it doesn't appear that NBI will be so well capitalised that bankrupcy would be out the question.

tsue921i8wljb3

KOR101 wrote: »

It really depends on how the contract is structured. It could be structured as essentially a cost recovery plus ROI. I know there are subsidies in two parts, one for passing and another for connecting but is this the only payment to NBI. The Department does seem to be 'on the ball' about the risks and who bears what. It's hard to imagine that this has not been addressed.

You would know more about this than me, so I am just asking to understand. If it is just the subsidies, then you are right about big risks to the business case and EIR aren't just going to sit there and let this happen. Unless the plan is to buy NBI down the line.

Also, it doesn't appear that NBI will be so well capitalised that bankrupcy would be out the question.

To be honest with you, I don't know is the answer. I can only go on what has been said by DCCAE at Committee appearances and what has appeared in the press. A contingency fund of €480m for "14 discrete cost activities which we have identified with the bidder and which it could not, with any reasonable degree of certainty, put into its bid because they are subject to future events in years two, three and four. "

We can assume encroachment is one of these 14 discrete potential costs so some of that €480m may be used to mitigate encroachment. It would then become a numbers game of how much encroachment is too much to bear.

This is all speculation on my part and may be completely wrong. Perhaps, as you say, the contract is structured in such a way as to minimise this or perhaps eir have given up and will concentrate on their urban build.

Orebro

The NBI roadshow continues:

https://www.leitrimobserver.ie/news/home/437557/45-million-to-be-invested-in-leitrim-under-national-broadband-plan.html

https://carlow-nationalist.ie/2019/08/11/roll-out-of-high-speed-broadband-gets-one-step-closer-for-rural-dwellers/

grbear

Airwire: MartinL wrote: »

I'm not sure, how far back this is.

But if for example a service gets enabled for your premise that suits yourself better (like when you're on fixed wireless and FTTH comes along) and you're in contract with us, we can always change that for you, as long as the service is in our portfolio.

Our portfolio currently covers 2 generations of fixed wireless, VDSL, OpenEIR and SIRO FTTH. We have been negotiating with eNet on access to their FTTx platform in Loughrea and we will be negotiating with NBI, should the contract get signed.

That way binding you to a contract (at least with us) doesn't really matter.

Its probably 13 or 14 years ago.

irishfeen

Very smart move from Fine Gael in releasing the €€ figures for each county and constituency.

20,000 premises in Cork North West alone with overall €290m being spent in Cork, that will play very well on the ground.

westyIrl

irishfeen wrote: »

Very smart move from Fine Gael in releasing the €€ figures for each county and constituency.

20,000 premises in Cork North West alone with overall €290m being spent in Cork, that will play very well on the ground.

All politics are local. The co-ordinated PR between the Govt and NBI in recent weeks is very clever indeed. It certainly indicates final contract negotiations are going well and hopefully a signing circa ploughing championship, assuming of course no major grenades are thrown in the Communications Committee report due to be released next Tuesday.

Jim

user1842

westyIrl wrote: »

All politics are local. The co-ordinated PR between the Govt and NBI in recent weeks is very clever indeed. It certainly indicates final contract negotiations are going well and hopefully a signing circa ploughing championship, assuming of course no major grenades are thrown in the Communications Committee report due to be released next Tuesday.

Jim

Or assuming Eir dont throw in a grenade.

Orebro

user1842 wrote: »

Or assuming Eir dont throw in a grenade.

They've been well and truly debunked with the carry on in front of the committee - lets hope they crawl back under their rock and we hear nothing more from them from now on.

The Cush

Orebro wrote: »

They've been well and truly debunked with the carry on in front of the committee - lets hope they crawl back under their rock and we hear nothing more from them from now on.

The article I quoted above says both eir and SIRO are going to make a submission to the Dept consultation but no signed committment, let's see where that goes.