Could the government buy the openeir network?

dollylama

Just a musing I've had this past few days having been keeping an ear on progress (or lack of progress) of NBI and the national broadband plan and coupled with some noise about eir looking to offload some of their network to an outside investor.

Would there be a case for the government to either but openeir in it's entirety or buy back the pole network and cable infrastructure that they sold in the 90's?

It would seem a prudent move on a number of grounds. Large parts of the rural network are in bits as it's clear eir have pulled back on maintenance this past 10 years. Even areas where they rolled out rural fibre, the fibre was strung on a pole network that's seen better days, much of it flattened in the recent storms. The government could fund upgrades or undergrounding of parts of the network in line with NBI rollout.

From an access pov, if I'm reading it correctly, eir seem to be hindering access for NBI and indeed other operators to their poles and ducts. The government would be a neutral party with fair and equal access to all operators, possibly at reduced fees too.

Lastly, it might be cheaper in the long run for the government to roll out national fibre on a network they own.

I wouldn't be suggesting the government / civil-service manage the network, only that they own it and maintenance and access provisioning is tendered out to a third party for X number of years.

Gusser09

Do you think this would improve things somehow?

I'd prefer a Govt. Department/ sub Department be in charge of running it. Try something different.

dollylama

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770232#Comment_118770232

Only in the sense that instead of the state handing how ever many billion to a new arrival in the hopes they'll be able to rollout a national fibre network on top of a network owned by a competing party, the state could buy the network from eir and probably overlay fibre on it for the same money.

If it were to happen, I would be dead set against the state or departments having any involvement in the day to day management of the network. Design a management and maintenance contract and tender it out, keep the civil servants away from it. The state would only oversee expenditure and upgrade plans

Gusser09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770352#Comment_118770352

I'd disgaree. I think a lot of government depts like revenue and welfare are efficient with decent customer service for the best part. Of course there are outliers. Virgin media and eir are a total disaster in terms of curtomer service and vodafone are in the category.

I agree with the state taking back control but id go all in if anything. It'll never happen. Though.

dollylama

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118770390#Comment_118770390

Hmm.. my experience of state departments would be the opposite of your own but we'll agree to disagree.

I think the biggest roadblock would be a lack of courage and foresight from politicians to spend X billion purchasing a network we used to own. I get the feeling eir and their French owner would dump it in a heartbeat

William_Flynn

If the government was to offer enough money, I'm sure they could buy it. However based on the competitive advantage owning the network gives, they would have to pay a hefty premium.

Can't see it happening though.

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118784010#Comment_118784010

The amount we're paying for the NBP is enough of a cost to bear. Also if we bought the OpenEir infrastructure, we'd have our finger in both pies. It would be a conflict of interest from both perspectives.