Evening Herald article today..

gurramok

Found this article today in paper (no link, all typed out !), it must be the first time ever that the herald who claim to be the largest newspaper in circulation in the dublin area to have highlighted the problem.

(As a regular reader who has read nearly every edition of every day of the paper in last few years !)

The headline is in big black writing on the page in question !

From Evening Herald today 30-10-02...Page 16 'Your Money and Business'

with expert Dan White

Cheaper Internet access on the way

Communications Minister Dermot Ahern's diktat to Eircom to offer its customers cheap flat rate internet access is long overdue.
The result should be a major increase in internet usage in Irish homes.

The introduction of a cheap flat rate internet service has been stalled for over two years. All of the other operators have balked at paying the prices demanded by Eircom for the use of its network.For its part Eircom has argued that a cheap flat rate internet service would be uneconomic and would clog up its network.

The result has been a stand-off. Until this week that is when Dermot Ahern announced that he was directing the Commission for Telecommunications Regulation, which shortly takes over the role of telecoms regulator, to introduce flat rate internet access "as an absolute priority".

Up to now anyone wanting flat rate internet access, where you pay the same amount every month no matter how long you are online, had to use Eircom's i-stream service.

While I have no doubt that this is a good product, at €107.99 a month it is way beyond the reach of most people. Just for good measure there is also a once-off €199.65 installation charge.

The results have been entirely predictable. While 98pc of Irish businesses have access to the internet, just 30pc of Irish homes are hooked up. Announcing his decision the Minister argued that greater Internet access was a matter of national competitiveness.

"It is not alone my view that we need flat rate access. It is the opinion of Forfas, it is the opinion of the National Competitiveness Council, the Advisory Committee on Infocoms and just about anyone who has examined our Information Society requirements that Ireland needs flat rate internet access. Sooner rather than later."

So when are we likely to see cheap flat rate internet access? The first step is the publication by the Department of Communications of a draft direction to telecoms operators to provide such access. This would be followed by a 21-day period during which interested parties could comment on the draft after which the final draft would be published.

In practice it is likely to be in the New Year before most of the new cheap flat rate internet access services hit the market.

And how much are we likely to end up paying for such services? It is already clear that i-stream's €107.69 a month is way over the top and any product which is serious about cracking the mass market is going to have to come in at a much, much lower price.

First out of the traps has been EsatBT - Eircom's main competitor. The ink was barely dry when on the Minister's announcement when it stated that it would be offering its digital customers an always-on (though at half the speed of i-stream) internet service for €60 a month.

But I have always felt that any mass-market flat rate internet service would have to come in under the €50 a month price point. So I would be in no hurry to choose just yet.

In the weeks ahead consumers will be deluged by a plethora of special offers and products from all of the telecommunications operators.

Take your time and decide carefully which one best suits your needs. Don't just sign up for the first one that comes your way.

While netheads will no doubt transform Dermot Ahern into their pin-up boy, just one word of caution.

In the early stages at least most of the new products and services are likely to be confined to the main cities and towns. Rural net surfers will almost certainly have to wait a while longer.

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If you have an issue you'd like Dan White to discuss on this page, write to him c/o Evening Herald, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1 or e-mail danwhite@iol.ie

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Hannibal_12

Well done to the herald for printing it and you for taking the time to type it.
Nice to see some action finally. I was glad that he mentioned €ircon in a negative light since the Herald is the "working man's" newspaper and they are the people that need to be targetted.
Congrats to IOFFL, without which I am sure this would have been slower coming. I think we should all send Dan white a well done email for printing it and telling the truth about the great RAT.

sceptre

Originally posted by Hannibal_12
I think we should all send Dan white a well done email for printing it and telling the truth about the great RAT.

Too right - especially given that the Herald is one of Tony O'Reilly's babies

Krouc

This is great, getting the info to the ppl on the street. I have felt that this was what was needed. The ppl on the street that dont know adsl from v92 from compuglobalhypermeganet. People will finally see that they are getting screwed and how companies, actually one, has cost he country millions in everything from E-commerce to Education.
Only thing tho

i-steal - You can have "high quality graphics", sun, moon and the stars. As long as that all fits in the 3gb limit, after that the meter is running.

No need to wonder what the Eircom mouse is fat. I'd hate to see the 'cats'!

Thanks for typing the article.

Krouc

De Rebel

Originally posted by sceptre
Too right - especially given that the Herald is one of Tony O'Reilly's babies

You know your on the winning side when Sir Beanz crosses over and joins up.

Fallschirmjager

jesus that came from the herald...WTF...when did they start working...i thought it was dodgy cars and even dodgier flats.......

BRAVO Herald...an a bit of a bollocking as well...


me sniff the air and say


'that smell, that napalm smell, that petroleum smell..it smells like...like..VICTORY..someday this war is gonna end..'