Dempsey:Putting Ireland in the top 10% of world's bb nations is within early reach

bealtine

SkepticOne wrote:

My intention was not so much to criticize but to find what the current focus is of the group is as I think this is very important. QUOTE]

Personally I think analysing the current "focus of the group" is very important and indeed very constructive.

The dismal take-up of broadband is symptomatic of underlying problems, mostly problems of supply.

We have any number of problems, wireless ISPs that barely service the country, or are focused on very specific areas. These are the business models they the wisps have built up in their short existence. Wisps that do not even exist and yet have licences for vast geographical areas.

We have artificially low DSL limits set by eircom, this in itself hides a multitude
of issues, not least (non) investment in network infrastructure. BT says DSL will work up to 10 km and our beloved eircom say between 2 and 3km is the limit.
The "Line failure" excuse hides so many different problems.
It is not uncommon for people who live less than 3-4km from the exchange to be refused broadband because they "live too far away" because their line is unsuitable. It was eircom who supplied the line in the first place so why is it "unsuitable"? Perhaps because it's rotting in the ground and petty politics
plays a huge part in not getting anything done about it? Who knows?

The list goes on and on.

I believe it was you who mentioned "what should eircom's long term goal be"?
Imho old fashioned telephony is dead or certainly dying rapidly. If the telcos do not wake up to this essential fact then their business model is kaput...and there will never be a return on their (non)investment.

BT woke up and changed their focus from being a voice carrier to being a reasonably profitable data carrier. This is the future for telcos lest anybody forget it. Forget voice, there's no return on that and playing to the gallery saying "voice is our remit" is at best disengenuous and very shortsighted.

Now is the time to invest in the network, hard as it may be, allowing those elusive future returns to give them the ability to build a new business model based around IP services.

The whole thing is a gigantic "catch-22", no supply equals no takeup.
No takeup equals no supply and so therefore the golden circle is complete.

jwt

SkepticOne wrote:

If you feel I'm being unfair, I'll ease off. My intention was not so much to criticize but to find what the current focus is of the group is as I think this is very important. Hope this clarifies things.

No need to apologise for asking a fair question. I'm surprised no one else has volunteered any answers to your fundamental question

A fair answer to "what the current focus is of the group is" could equally be "Anything we think will help".

As stated earlier we are very receptive to suggestions so feel free to speak.

John

SkepticOne

jwt wrote:

A fair answer to "what the current focus is of the group is" could equally be "Anything we think will help".

Can I suggest that the end goal is that everyone that wants decent broadband is in a position to get it and that this is the only goal? This means that IrelandOffline has succeeded or failed according to the extent to which this goal is achieved. Is this a reasonable statement of your position?

It may or may not seem like a strange question, but people do differ on these things. I don't have any particular agenda to push here, but I'm keen to know how the group sees itself.

The alternative position is that IrelandOffline is a group that produces press releases, responds to consultations and performs other activities, but does not define its success or failure in terms of real world change.

I'm happy to accept and respect either answer.

Moriarty

I'll be happy for Ireland Offline to be disolved when the vast majority (>99%) of this country's population are able to easily get broadband with bandwidth, pricing and other related issues (caps, latency, other extras) at or nearing the leading edge in terms of european &/ OECD competition from a large amount of telcos/other companys.

SkepticOne

Moriarty wrote:

with bandwidth, pricing and other related issues (caps, latency, other extras) at or nearing the leading edge in terms of european &/ OECD competition from a large amount of telcos/other companys.

OK, you see the success or failure of IrelandOffline in terms of the extent to which it achieves its goals in the real world.

Mr E

Dempsey is on Primetime tonight to answer questions about slow broadband rollout.....