final stages flatrate

skrobe

i know peter has said this b4, but final negotiations sounds VERY promising. also all day is mentioned, not like the other 'type offpeak rate'. Fingers crossed eircom dont put a spanner in the works!: sunday business post(tried the url but looked very odd)

Time to give consumers flat rate internet access


Dublin, Ireland, 31 August, 2002


Imagine two restaurants, side by side. You have heard the food and service are good in both -- but how are the prices? A closer look at the signs outside indicate a marked difference. The first restaurant offers the choice of a three-course lunch for e12.95 or a four-course dinner for e19.95.


The other restaurant charges by the mouthful. Waiters calculate how much you have eaten and charge according to the following rates: vegetables 39 cent a mouthful; meat 99 cent a mouthful; potatoes 45 cent a mouthful; dessert 45 cent a mouthful.

It is also drawn to your attention that there could be a 10 cent extra charge per mouthful if they are busy. The question is: where would you prefer to eat?

Regardless of your answer, at least you can say the consumer has a choice. Unlike the above scenario, Ireland's home internet users have few options.

Residential internet users are forced to dial-up and pay per minute. Every time you dial up, a meter starts to run, only you can't see what it says and how much it is costing -- someone else is in charge. Users have little control over managing their internet costs and there is little incentive to use the internet.

Consumers are faced with complicated service charges -- line rental, subscription-based services, premium call rates, off-peak night and weekend charges -- and it is all added up afterwards.

ISDN services providing faster internet access are also available, but this involves additional installation charges, as equipment needs to be fitted. Users will still be charged per minute usage.

More recently, broadband internet services, such as the digital subscriber lines (DSL) offered by Esat BT are being rolled out across the regions providing `always-on' internet access.

This should prove particularly popular with many businesses, but will be restricted to customers within 2.5 kilometres to 3km of the local telco exchange. Even with the introduction of affordable broadband products, the Republic is still going to need a flat rate dial-up product.

As it stands, what is clearly missing is a 56k dial- up flat rate product, which would allow people to be online for as long as they like for a monthly fee. The lack of a flat rate 56k dial-up has damaged the perception of what the internet can be used for and how it can be used to benefit the people of Ireland; promoting education, facilitating e-commerce, enabling e-government, encouraging teleworking, improving the environment and reducing family strife by controlling usage costs.

With no 56k dial-up flat rate product available, is it any wonder that Ireland's internet penetration has stagnated and remains one of the lowest of active internet users in the EU at about 38 per cent. The will to surf seems to have stalled. According to a recent report by the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, the number of internet users going online from home increased by just 1 per cent between January and April.

Worse still, around 39 per cent of those who have internet access at home are not even interested in going online.

If, as a nation, we are to realise the benefits of a connected society, flat rate internet access is a fundamental stepping-stone that must be put in place. The provision of un-metered internet access, such as FRIACO (Flat Rate Internet Access Call) in Britain, has proved to be the key enabler in the take-up of broadband services.

Countries where un-metered access is available have seen growth in the migration to broadband. The message that is coming through loud and clear from the main industry representative bodies, the consumer lobbying group Ireland Offline, the state agency Forfás and Irish internet users is that the market badly needs flat rate access.

For its part, Esat BT is committed to the cause and has set itself a goal of being able to provide a single affordable flat rate charge to cover all internet usage in the home -- all day, every day.

Esat BT's product director Peter Evans is hopeful that flat rate will be available shortly. "We are progressing final discussions and negotiations with the incumbent telecoms supplier and the ODTR, and I would like to think Esat BT will soon be in a position to offer flat rate access to consumers and business."

David Long, chairman of Ireland Offline, a consumer group lobbying for nationwide availability of flat rate dial-up access and affordable broadband services said: "We believe that flat rate dial-up is particularly important because almost all home PCs are shipped with a built-in 56k modem and therefore no extra equipment is required. Consumers can get a proper experience of the internet without any extra expenditure beyond the monthly fee."

Since the introduction of flat rate services in Britain, there has been a marked increase in the take up of the internet. Home internet penetration in Britain now stands at 50 per cent and is rising.

A similar story exists in many countries throughout Europe and the United States, which have successfully introduced flat rate internet access in the home. The real digital divide is not within our borders any more, but between Ireland and the rest of Europe.

DonegalMan

Great article, one of the best I've seen. Love the analogy with a restauarant charging by the mouthful


Full article is here

Once again, great to see IOFFL being quoted in the article, seems to be standard practice now.

Martin Harran

nahdoic

Wow! The message is *finally* getting through. Is that not the best article ever published on the need for flat rate net access in Ireland?

Yeah the restaurant analogy was really good, it really engages the average Joe Bloggs in terms they can understand.

Excellent.

fisty

hahah
gas.

ando

looks promising, but ..... hmmm

Mark_irl

Dont rush out and spend all that extra money saved on flat rate just yet, there was an awfull lot of "hopefulls" and "possibles" in the article, I expect no flat rate servive to be in place any time soon, "hopefully" im "possibly" wrong.

Michael Collins

Anybody notice how it cunningly doesn't mention Eircom at all? Esat BT DSL, how clever

Mr.M

i am pretty new to this group so if this is a stupid question i apoligise in advance.doesn't eircon have to agree to let Esat use it's lines and if so, what are the chances that it will them use for 24/7.

dahamsta

doesn't eircon have to agree to let Esat use it's lines

Yes.

what are the chances that it will them use for 24/7.

They seem to be slightly better at the moment. There's a lot of quiet confidence out there at the moment. I wouldn't go partying about it just yet, but I wouldn't cry into your Guinness about it either. Perhaps crossing fingers might be an idea.

adam

JTMan

This article might be refering to some soft of pay for X hours 'Flat rate' rather than proper 24/7 flat rate.

BKtje

Fungus: Even if that is the case (which for some reason i doubt) it will be a step in the right direction. Perhaps not the one we all wanted but it would be the 1st step on a long road.

Tellox

one of the few articles I've actually fully read, it was sheer class.

Ste.phen

Did anyone else notice the

Served by EsatBT

in the corner?

Just thought it was interesting when combined with the lack of an Eircom reference in the article, and the mentioning of *Esat BT*'s DSL.