Building broadband partnerships for all

dahamsta

I have no idea where this came from, so I can't link or attribute, sorry...

Building broadband partnerships for all
By Esat BT
Dublin, Ireland, 1 December, 2002

What are we going to do about broadband? At every level of policy, we are told that the provision of broadband is a first priority. And it is. It has to be.

Our capacity to attract inward investment, our ability to hold research and development facilities, and our position as a centre of excellence in information technology and pharmaceuticals are all undermined if we can't offer communications services at the same rate as our competitors.

It has to be about more than a competitive threat. Consumers -- business and domestic consumers alike -- are entitled to the benefits of high-speed access.

The internet is the most profoundly important tool ever invented for education, research, commerce, encouraging innovation, entertainment. It's a library, a school, a department store, a cineplex, in every home. But without proper connectivity, it's a department store with long queues at every counter, a cinema that only shows old silent movies. So at every level of policy we have to have it.

So what will we do about it? The government, through its Telecommunications Working Group, has stated that its objective "is to put Ireland in the top decile of the OECD broadband league table within five years, by ensuring widespread availability of advanced broadband services and infrastructure within that timeframe."

That's the objective. It has to be said, however, that we are a long way from the top 10 per cent of the OECD broadband league table right now. And how are we to bridge the gap? The solution identified by the Telecommunications Working Group is public private partnership.

The group has proposed that this strategy be employed to complete the job of rolling out a high-quality access service in different part of the country. Enable the exchanges, put the lines in place, unbundle the local loop, build the infrastructure.

The government's policy objective is nothing if not ambitious. They want broadband speeds of five megabytes per second to the home, and substantially higher for business. That's internet access in your living room roughly 1,000 times faster than today for the vast majority of us. It's instant access, and they want it to be always on at prices we can all afford. They want it done in three years.

And then what?

That's the problem. That's why the answer is only half an answer. It's like the field of dreams -- if you build it, they will come.

Not necessarily, though. Even if you get the supply side right, consumers won't take it up. Not if they don't appreciate what is on offer unless someone has shown them the advantages. In Britain they're going through the same birth pangs at the moment. In two counties next door to each other, this is the sort of experience they had. In Devon, they e-enabled ten exchanges, and connected 1,056 high-speed lines in 12 months. In Cornwall they e-enabled six exchanges and hooked up 1,050 lines after 16 weeks.

What was the difference? In a word, ACTNow.

This stands for Access for Cornwall through Telecommunications to New Opportunities Worldwide. It works because it's a different kind of partnership. Instead of ppp, it might be called ppccp -- public private community and consumer partnership.

The project brought together a number of key partners. BT was involved; so were the local authorities, local community, development agencies, education boards and businesses in the area.

Broadband took off in Cornwall because people realised the opportunities it opened up. The result was over 1,000 ADSL sign-ups in 16 weeks. In Ireland, we could spend millions here, but unless we get the demand side right, broadband won't thrive.

In Britain, consumers are deciding where the priorities are. BT has introduced a simple device -- a website where you can log your interest in having broadband access for your community. Everyone who logs on can see how many registrations are necessary to trigger the provision of the service.

The trigger levels that are being set for each area are related to the cost of providing service in that area. In every case where the costs are considered too high, the emphasis goes into getting costs down.

Can we do it here? Certainly. We can respond to customers' needs. We can engage the local community and educate people in the benefits and advantages of e-living. We can open up a whole new world. And we can deliver a local service that will put Ireland in the top 10 per cent. What we need is partnership: real partnership that involves customers and suppliers, Government and operators, public private and community.

That's how to be competitive nationally. And it's how to build the field of dreams and harvest it.

theking

The above piece was an ad pretending to be an article in the Sunday Business Post's IT magazine

molinaalexis

All that is very true, but will our half brain politicians see at least half of this truth?

eircomtribunal

Originally posted by dahamsta
Not necessarily, though. Even if you get the supply side right, consumers won't take it up.

BT, don't start to give us the same nonsense as we are getting from Eircom. First do get the supply side right and let us go from there then. EsatBT's ADSL offer may be somewhat better than i-stream, but it is still outrageously over-priced. Stop waffling to us about ACT! Just act now and reduce the pricing to the international level.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by eircomtribunal
BT, don't start to give us the same nonsense as we are getting from Eircom. First do get the supply side right and let us go from there then. EsatBT's ADSL offer may be somewhat better than i-stream, but it is still outrageously over-priced. Stop waffling to us about ACT! Just act now and reduce the pricing to the international level.

When you go over 100 euros, you simply fall off the map as far as ordinary consumers are concerned. It does not matter how good the contention ratio, latency, etc. is, the product simply won't sell. Figures of 190 sold ADSL lines bear this out. If they want to get a return on their investment, they need to get the pricing right and market research shows that Ireland is no different to any other country. There is negligable demand for ADSL at over 100 euros even among businesses.

molinaalexis

This is from the RAT Subscription Service


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No more comments, There is not worse blind that those who do not want to see

JimHacker

Listen the BT stuff above it utter rubbish. It was a placed and paid of advertorial.

The only wat Esat will make broadband work is not with a "beggibg bowl" mentaslity waiting for Govt funding etc. The just HAVE TO BRING THE PRICE OF ADSL down - we need a €45 per month product.

Esat BT are part of the problem - clearly.

eircomtribunal

Building broadband partnerships for all

EsatBT Una Mc BGirr's letter in today's Sunday Times responding to Jane Suiter's excellent broadband article makes it clear how EsatBT wants the cookie to crumble and we don't like the smell of it. It did not take "aggressive, public private partnership to deliver DSL to the people" [of the UK]. Decent pricing was the answer that gave the results.

Here is the letter.

"DSL BROADBAND: I was disappointed that Esat BT was not afforded the opportunity to comment on the state of play with digital subscriber lines (DSL). Esat BT will have unbundled 40 exchanges by Christmas and has done more to stimulate take-up by halving the price of DSL to EUR 50 per month.
We have 400 subscribers, a paltry number compared with where we would like to see the market, and in that respect we agree with the article.
Eircom’s assertion that advertising is sufficient is naïve, particularly if you look at the UK, where it took aggressive, public private partnership to deliver DSL to the people.
Una McGirr
Esat BT"

To respond to the Sunday Times, email to:

ciaran.hancock@sunday-times.ie

Anyone got the email address to respond to Una McGirr?

Peter

sceptre

Originally posted by eircomtribunal
by halving the price of DSL to EUR 50 per month.

Stating the obvious for Una (and Jane), but they haven't "halved the price of DSL" for two reasons:

1. They haven't currently got a product available at €50 per month

2. If they do introduce such a product, assuming it's the 256kps product, that's tantamount to selling an 800g loaf of bread for €1.20 and also selling a 400g loaf of bread for €0.70. Introducing such a product doesn't halve the price of bread - it merely makes a lesser amount of bread available at a lesser cost.

If they introduce this product and advertise it in such a fashion, I'll be screaming at the ASAI. While such a product might (temporarily) be a slight step forward in this backward telco island, the bottom line is that Esat's price is set at a level dictated by marketing in line with the Eircom price rather than actually creating a competitive market. That's not progress. That's not "halving the price of DSL". That's a blatant lie.

hmmm

Anyone got the email address to respond to Una McGirr?

good old Google from here
http://www.ericsson.com/press/20020815-101321.html
As it is a press release, this information is public knowledge so I might as well post it.

Una McGirr
Director of Communications
Esat BT
Phone: +353 86 6070858
E-mail: una.mcgirr@esat.com

Stonemason

With 256k speeds for €50 a month to start with but i would expect this speed to rise to 512k as more customers started to use the service.

As sceptre rightly pointed out it would be wrong for Esat to try and pass this service off as equivalent to a full 512k service which seems to be the entry level in most other countries as it is cleary half the speed.That said i would welcome a 256k always on connection with no caps over my 56k even at €50 a month.So as they say Esat should put up (this service) or shut up, stop the promises we have heard to many of the empty variety