SBP Article: 'Counting the Cost of Broadband'/Adrian Weckler

Eurorunner

The good press continues:) .
Adrians latest piece below:


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SBP/14.09.03/Technology - pg.9 - Counting the Cost of Broadband

‘Forget cheaper broadband DSL lines this autumn. An Eircom spokesman said last week that reducing the monthly rental price was “not on the table”.

This is despite the awful figures in last week’s Commission for Communications Regulation’s (ComReg) quarterly report, showing a pathetic industry take-up of 7,350 subscribers out of a possible 500,000 lines.
What Eircom does or does not do is of more consequence than any other single player on this issue. This is because it owns and controls the phone line infrastructure. The company has been promising a new initiative since the summer to boost the puny sales of the broadband lines. But not, we now know, the one thing that most people think would actually do it.
It could scrap other costs associated with signing up to the service. Like the €199 connection fee or the €150 modem cost. It could raise the download cap of 4GB per4GB per month, which is very low for a service styled as broadband. Most radically of all, it could do something to wean its SME customers off lower-tier ISDN lines and onto DSL. That would be a brave decision, given that it has about 100,000 such ISDN customers.
The Eircom spokesman had no comment to make on any of these possibilities. However, she did say that the company’s autumn DSL campaign would be “aggressive” and would include “a number of things”.
It needs to do something quickly. Whether or not other players like Esat BT will remain in the Irish DSL market depends on it. This is a situation perhaps not fully appreciated by the ComReg.
Things look brighter in the market for flat rate internet access.
According to ComReg’s report, 6,500 customers had signed up in the first few weeks of its introduction in June. Since then, the number has been climbing steadily, according to the telecoms operators.
In its first week of offering the product (It entered the market late), Eircom sold 4,100 such flat-rate internet connections. This adds to an estimated 7,500 Esat BT subscriptions so far and an unknown number of UTV internet and Pigsback customers. The overall figure could be as high as 20,000 flat rate customers.
While still low in the context of several hundred thousand old-fashioned dial-up internet customers, it indicates that flat rate internet has been a moderate success so far.
Other interesting findings in ComReg’s quarterly report include the fact that more people now use their telephone landlines for internet access than making voice calls. This tallies with the fact that the fixed line telephone market in general is stagnating, while the mobile phone market continues to thrust forward, with the market penetration figure now at 81 per cent. And online buying continues to grow, with two out of five internet users buying something on the internet, albeit primarily travel, music or book products.
All of this should indicate a market for broadband DSL. However, in a submission to a telecoms conference earlier last December, the chairman of ComReg, Etain Doyle, indicated that a price below €40 (including VAT) was the level at which mass-market take-up would occur.
For its part, Eircom appears to believe that its current €54 (including VAT) is sufficient. Translation: forget about cheaper DSL lines for now.’

shinzon

Adrian seems to have locked onto the broadband fiasco like a rabid dog with a bone.

This continued campaign in the press can only be good as more and more people finally wake up to the fact that theres a lot of fishy goings on at eircon

So all this thing about 40 euro DSL seems to be a lot of hooey, thought as much

Sigh

Shin

nahdoic

Fantastic! That has got to be one of the most detailed, honest and to the point articles on DSL in Ireland in any Irish newspaper to date.

It could scrap other costs associated with signing up to the service. Like the €199 connection fee or the €150 modem cost. It could raise the download cap of 4GB per4GB per month, which is very low for a service styled as broadband. Most radically of all, it could do something to wean its SME customers off lower-tier ISDN lines and onto DSL. That would be a brave decision, given that it has about 100,000 such ISDN customers.

That sounds like boards talk

Paddy20

Well. All I can say is that if I ever start buying newspapers again!.Then the:- Sunday Business Post will have too be the one.

P.:)

Capt'n Midnight

Distilling the article ..
" more people now use their telephone landlines for internet access than making voice calls. "
"it has about 100,000 such ISDN customers."
DSL "7,350 subscribers out of a possible 500,000 lines"
"The overall figure could be as high as 20,000 flat rate customers"

So despite the fact that most people use thier land lines to connect to the internet and that half of the lines in this country are DSL capable and the constanst stream of Ads by Eircom the low uptake shows it is still not internet for the masses.

As for subscription levels etc - look at how many customers SKY have in this country - you can sell something that commands a montly premium - if (and only if) people think it worth paying for.

Don't forget that at the rate eircom line rental increases are going you would get BB thrown in, if you paid that much to many european operators..

(Please NTL - telephony through cable ! - )