even politicians have noticed how useless Comwreck are

bealtine

Comreg - the new! improved! ashtray on a motorbike.

Simon Coveney the FG spokesman on Communications etc...

quote:

Irish Consumers continue to be ripped off as Eircom Local Loop charge is one of the highest in Europe - Coveney

Minister Ahern must intervene and prevent Irish consumers being ripped off

Fine Gael Spokesperson on Communications Simon Coveney TD MEP, today (Wednesday) said that ComReg's proposed discount of ?14.65 - from ?16.81 per month - for access to Eircom's local loop is not enough and will mean that consumers in Ireland will be paying the highest monthly local loop charges in Europe, apart from Luxembourg.

"Irish consumers are yet again being ripped off. ComReg have obviously not taken into account the inefficiencies within Eircom, and are allowing Eircom to penalise the consumer by offering minuscule reductions in their charges. If this pricing goes ahead the consumer will be locked into it for a fixed period until 1st December 2007, without any reduction, but Eircom will be allowed to increase the price in line with the rate of inflation.

"Minister Dermot Ahern must intervene as ComReg are failing to see what a reduction in the price of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) would do - increase competition - thereby reducing the rate for the consumer, bringing the cost in Ireland down towards the European average, increasing Ireland's competitiveness as a destination for locating business.

"Competitive and low wholesale prices for broadband are a crucial part of the equation in the provision of more choice, better services and lower prices, in the provision of broadband to households and businesses in Ireland."

Hobart

As one whom opposes sound bites let me use one "With friends like that who needs ............. 'nuf said

damien

Well done Simon Coveney. Well said. I wonder will we see other politicians weight in on this ?

Paddy20

Yeah, good on ya Simon

damien

Guys, if you agree with Simons statement then let him know via the press office in Fine Gael. It's nice to get feedback from the voters. Mention IrelandOffline too !

Contact details here.

Mr_Man

did Mr Covney get copied on the recent IOFFL press release, some of the language looks awfully familiar

M.

spongebob

Yes ! Its awfully familiar Damien

M

jwt

Kinda nice to see our pen smithing abilites being parroted back by TD's

We certainly seem to be making ourselves visible, long may it continue

John

DonegalMan

jwt wrote:

We certainly seem to be making ourselves visible, long may it continue

John

Yes, time to dispense with the bushel

Emailed Simon Coveney BTW as suggested by Damien, the more interest that politicians see in this subject, the more interest they will take.

damien

Muck wrote:

Yes ! Its awfully familiar Damien

You may say that, I couldn't possibly comment.

Maybe it's familiar because IrelandOffline has been singing common sense for a good few years now and it appears that the politicians are coming into synch with the mantra.

Dermots there on some parts, I'd like to see him be in synch more. Tommy Braughan is getting the rhythm now, Simon is getting it too. But what we want to know is whether ComReg is tone deaf or can they adapt ?

When politicans and journalists and anyone makes a statement that we agree with or makes sense we should let them know. We all know how frustrating it is to do something worthwhile yet nobody pays attention.

spongebob

damien.m wrote:

Tommy Broughan is getting the rhythm now

This is the Tommy whose Constituents all over Ireland were whinging to him about Pairgains in the spring.

He's a Dublin TD and we have heard not a single word since. I wonder if the CWU showed some Brotherly Solidarity in the interim. He has been much too quiet for a dedicated spokesperson in my opinion.

Tommy Out Finger sez Muck

M

damien

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt following his press release yesterday.

sceptre

damien.m wrote:

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt following his press release yesterday.

This one?

bealtine

Yes ! Its awfully familiar

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery...

Even if he did cog all the details from the Iofl press release I think it's nice
to see it being "used" by the opposition. It's another stick with which to beat
the complacency and thievery out of the gov and the telcos.

Probably shallow words but what the hell...



--
BURN THE OLIVE TREE, SELL THE LEXUS

C Fodder

As with all political beings when somebody does the writing for them and tells them what to say they are all experts. Please keep writing the good stuff for them guys.

damien

And today:

http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/20040903121650.html

Eircom's dominance in telecoms sector must be challenged
Issued : Friday 3 September, 2004

Statement by Tommy Broughan TD
Spokesperson on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and Assistant Whip

Labour Party Spokesperson on Communications, Deputy Tommy Broughan, has signalled his intention to raise the €14.65 monthly charge for access to Eircom’s local loop at the first meeting of the Committee on Communications when the Dáil reconvenes later this month.

Deputy Broughan commented, “The €14.65 charge set by the Communications Regulator puts Ireland second only to Luxembourg in terms of the most expensive European country for accessing the local loop. However, ComReg’s decision at the very least brings the charge down from the €16.81 interim price set last year, and almost halves the €27 charge originally sought by Eircom.

“The situation in Ireland is pathetic when compared to developments in Britain. There, Ofcom is proposing severe reductions in wholesale broadband charges for internet service providers by offering connections directly to customers through Local Loop Unbundling rather than renting from a major network owner.

“In Ireland customers are subjected to endless profiteering from Eircom with few viable alternatives. ComReg fights a daily battle with Eircom yet even when it proposes reductions in their charges, Eircom may yet disregard it and revert to the Courts.

“The €14.65 charge is evidence of Eircom’s dominant position in the Irish market. It controls all the lines in the country and there is extremely limited competition in the domestic telecoms sector.”

Moriarty

That's a rather shockingly lucent statement. Now let's see if anything is actually done about it.

Paddy20

Me like's , and predicts increasingly heated debates in the Dail, and the media on this issue as the general public and their children become more aware of how they are being denied proper cheap access to vital Internet broadband because of IMO, Eircom's pure capitalist greed and monopolistic hold on the last mile and the wholesale price ?...

damien

Moriarty wrote:

Now let's see if anything is actually done about it.

Isn't that in part down to us ? Again, email Tommy and let him know you agree with what he says.

That's two parties that are not pleased with this result. Will there be anymore ?

Dangger

Both Tommy Broughan and Simon Coveney have displayed great understanding and interest in the issues in the past. As has been suggested above, IOFFL is assisting in their education on these matters. Both men have proved most approachable in the past, and engaged most comprehensibly in IrelandOffline's

Dangger

Both Tommy Broughan and Simon Coveney have displayed great understanding and interest in the issues in the past. As has been suggested above, IOFFL is assisting in their education on these matters. Both men have proved most approachable in the past, and engaged most comprehensibly in IrelandOffline's presenation to the Dáil special committee on communications in June of last here.

The full text is available here

DonegalMan

Dangger wrote:

The full text is available here

That's the first time I've actually seen the Dail minutes - the way the TD's understood the issues is most encouraging.

Hey, David posting here and me replying, plus Elana popping up on the TV ... I'm coming over all nostalgic

Martin

damien

... and all we're short is:

Picture a This is Your lLife style scenario:

Martin do you recognise this voice ?

"Ohhhhhh. he's such a lovely man, and all the other lovely people in his little group. Aren't they lovely ? They can have a cup of tea and chat in my house again. Isn't that Luas thing great "

Ripwave

damien.m wrote:

And today:

http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/20040903121650.html
Labour Party Spokesperson on Communications, Deputy Tommy Broughan, has signalled his intention to raise the €14.65 monthly charge for access to Eircom’s local loop

An unfortunate choice of words

Mr_Man

From the Business Section of the Irish Times to-day:

The Communications Regulator issued a flurry of documents this week related to its ongoing quest to bring some much needed competition into the telecoms sector.

But after wading through more than 200 pages of technical jargon such as 'significant market power' and 'hypothetical monopolist' Current Account is still unsure of what it all means.

....

But the good news is that all the papers were just consultations apparently and the real business starts next month. Perhaps, it's just a case of a communications regulator that likes to talk. Let's hope next month we understand what it is saying.

And perhaps it'll also grow a spine.........

M.