Smart Telecom LLU

MadKevo

Smart Telecom are apparently going the LLU route, where others have dared to tread and, well, you know the rest.

http://www.electricnews.net/frontpage/news-9411078.html

Of course, this could be a load of carp (really!), and maybe they're going to interconenct with Eircom's DSL network using a L2TP tunnel like a sane person would.

I don't have today's IT or a subscription so dunno what brilliant IT employee wrote the article.

/MK

spongebob

If they do NOT go LLU then they must resell the Eircom RASDL and DSL products which top out at 1Mbit or 2Mbit or so.

If they DO go LLU they can then put their own DSLAM kit at the end of those wires. Rumour has it that an order for DSLAMs has been placed and that they will be able to offer ADSL2 and SDSL together with Voice and DSL flavours on the one loop.

This would indicate that their suite of products will start at 2Mbits with 5Mbit and 8Mbit offerings available too , this is good news. It will show up the crummy offerings that are currently on the market by packing a lot more down a pipe. They may even go to 16Mbit .

The BAD news is that they will not seemingly enable 40 exchanges (as ESAT have done) or c.200 as Eircom have done to date with more to follow but are likely to cherry pick some 15-20 exchanges in Dublin/Galway/Cork and possibly Letterkenny and Sligo AND where Smart have fibre backhaul available through the ESB or Aurora .

thegills

cherry pick some 15-20 exchanges in Dublin/Galway/Cork and possibly Letterkenny and Sligo

And Limerick!!! The Limerick MAN will have carrier-neutral fibre connectivity to eircom exchanges in Limerick City and to the ESBT and Esat BT national backhaul (Aurora too in time). Are the costs associated with the above not the major obstacles in upgrading an exchange (assuming they go down the LLU route)?

Are the MAN projects begining to pay off??

bk

Originally posted by Muck

The BAD news is that they will not seemingly enable 40 exchanges (as ESAT have done) or c.200 as Eircom have done to date with more to follow but are likely to cherry pick some 15-20 exchanges in Dublin/Galway/Cork and possibly Letterkenny and Sligo AND where Smart have fibre backhaul available through the ESB or Aurora .

According to ENN they will enable 50 exchanges, that is why I assume it is LLU and not just bitstream (you only need to connect to 1 exchange for bitstream).

This is great news if true, it was only a matter of time before it happened.

spongebob

I had heard recently that it was 15-20 and see how it goes from that. They are not targeting the domestic market, seeing themselves in the same niche as Netsource but with far more control of their Network obviously.

As the DSLAMs can be Partitioned I hear that they may allow VISP access to them. This is a different model to Eircom Wholesale , its a kinda design your own offering at the Port Level product. If Budget were selling a 2 Mbit product in this excample, and if Muck.Net fancied starting at 1Mbit then they 'could' facilitate me. They would initially open a two meg port and throttle it back to one . Its not clear whether they will consider this or whether they would tell ole Muckypoos to **** right off with himself . I must conspire with Ripwave to form a partnership to peddle cheap DSL to the SME sector. PM me dude !

Every owner of real DSLAMs in Ireland has a wholesale product. UTV resell the ESAT one (ISTR) while everyone (even ESAT) resells the Eircom one. In order to differentiate themselves from the Hoi-Polloi around the 512k-1mbit mark, Smart have no option but to make waves by selling some eyegrabbing products without drastically affecting the price segmentation of their Metro Ethernet over fibre products ......these being aimed at leased line owners while their ADSL is aimed at pissed off DSL customers on the other 2 platforms and their SDSL is aimed at the ISDN BRI Voice brigade along with DSL or leaseed line.

I'm delighted that a serious attempt is being made to shake and rattle the duopoly, so its respect to Smart and may they do well with their 2Mbit for €99 (ex vat) product, it deserves to succeed.

M

vinnyfitz

According to a report in today's Irish Times:

Eircom ready to oppose ComReg's fee decision
Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter




Eircom is poised to oppose an upcoming decision by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) over the fees that it levies rivals to access its local phone network.

US consultancy firm Criterion Economics, employed by Eircom, has expressed concerns to ComReg over the methodology the regulator is using to set the fee, which is a crucial element in determining the level of competition in the market.

ComReg has proposed using a complex methodology based on comparing Eircom's costs with those of other telecoms firms, including 31 US local telephone companies.

Mr Hal Singer, a Criterion consultant, told The Irish Times yesterday that ComReg was choosing a pricing model designed to get the lowest access fee possible but that it had little economic justification.

"My assessment is that the regulator is willing to play fast and loose on everything," said Mr Singer, who co-wrote Eircom's critique of the review, which has been submitted to the regulator.

Last year, Eircom lodged a legal challenge against ComReg's initial decision on access fees, a move that led to the current pricing review.

A new legal challenge lodged by Eircom could further delay its rivals' attempts to gain access to the incumbent's local phone network through a process known as "local loop unbundling" (LLU).

LLU is the name given to a process through which Eircom would lease the so-called "last mile" of its telecoms network - the part that runs into every home and business in the State - to rival telecoms companies. With access to this part of Eircom's network, rivals can offer a range of internet products to customers.

Only Esat BT has successfully gained access to Eircom's local access network, although it has unbundled just 2,000 lines, a fraction of the 1.6 million lines in the State.

The firm blames the high fees set by Eircom and ComReg for the slow pace of unbundling and its reluctance to seek access to more lines.

Other rivals, such as Smart Telecom, have called for a reduction in the €16.81 interim rate agreed by Eircom and ComReg last year as part of a legal settlement on pricing agreed by the two parties.

A ComReg spokesman confirmed last night that a decision on access fees was due to be published shortly by the regulator.

Eircom vigorously opposes reducing the price of accessing its local network.

Mr David McRedmond, Eircom's commercial director, would not comment on the potential for legal action on the issue of fees.

He said that Eircom was not against LLU but the company was against selling its network below cost.

The European Commission has consistently highlighted the slow pace of LLU as a major problem for competitiveness in the region.



© The Irish Times

eircomtribunal

Originally posted by vinnyfitz
He said that Eircom was not against LLU but the company was against selling its network below cost.

Uk regulator Ofcom has only very recently said that former Oftel's action of allowing BT its high LLU pricing was "embarrassing" and threatened breaking up BT if LLU pricing did not come down significantly.
Irish LLU is the most expensive in Europe.
ComReg should have been given the power to regulate on the issue without being endlessly dragged through the courts. Without significant LLU price reduction (and price reduction of the ancillary costs Eircom charges for unbundling) ComReg has no chance of achieving the Minister's policy directive of bringing Ireland to at least EU average with regards to bb access and enduser uptake.

From http://comwreck.com/blog_10_feb12.html