Noel Vs Noel, seconds out Round One ,dinggggggg !

Sponge Bob

The Oireachtas Committee on Communications , Noel Flynn FF Chairing with some aplomb , has chosen to posit a rather damning series of questions of its Minister for Communications , Noel Dempsey on the lines of a Famous Yes Minister show where 'his' Parliamentary Committee had the cheek to ask Sir Humphrey what his department actually DID .

I am not yet aware of the full background here particularly as to why the Committee did not get these answers for its report from its department or from eircom or from Comreg and is reduced to punting all these questions out into the public domain; but the questions have themselves all been asked around here at one stage or another and make interesting reading in their own right.

Some people may choose to email in a few of these questions to the usual suspects and compare the answers they are given, if any.

Notwithstanding that Eircom is an independent private company, it does have a universal service obligation. While acknowledging the position of Eircom, the pace and almost total lack of Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) is considered to be a roadblock that must be addressed in the national interest.

Therefore, the Joint Committee have formulated the following series of
questions that need to be addressed.

1. What are the exact and explicit policies, if any, which have been
brought
forward to address and reduce the rural and social 'digital divide'?

2. What exact use has been made of the MAN's up to end of 2005?

3. What exact use has been made of the MAN's since January 2006?

4. What exact use is proposed will be made of the MAN's to the end of 2006?

5. What targets, management and measurement metrics, follow up,
monitoring, and reporting is to be made in regard to the MAN's project?

6. What is the reason why the development of the MAN's has involved so
little use of existing fibre assets in the ground?

7. What backhaul fibre assets in State hands (ESB, Bord Gáis and Iarnrod
Éireann) are being used, in a co-ordinated manner, so as to facilitate
competition on long distance data transmission?

8. What is the number of actual projects that have been approved for
assistance under the group broadband scheme to the end of 2005?

9. What, to the end of 2005, is the number of projects approved for
assistance under the group broadband scheme that have been started?

10. What, to the end of 2005, is the number of projects approved for
assistance under the group broadband scheme that have been completed?

11. What, since the start of 2006, is the number of projects that have been
approved for assistance under the group broadband scheme?

12. What is the target for the take up under the group broadband scheme?

13. What access does ComReg have to information on the state of the Eircom
network?

14. What validation does ComReg undertake having regard to the veracity of
the information that Eircom supplies in relation to its network?

15. What specific policy is in place for the development of demand for
broadband services?

16. In regard to recommendation one of the Joint Committee's Second report -
the definition of what constituted broadband [a service that provides at least 512kb connectivity and sets as a target 5Mps connectivity by 2006 with widely available 10Mps connectivity in 2008 being the further target] - what, if any, definition has been set by Government and what definition does Eircom have?

17. In regard to recommendation one of the Joint Committee's Second report,
the definition of what constituted broadband, if no definition has been set by
Government, why has this not been set? Further, have Eircom and/or ComReg set a definition of what constituted broadband?

18. Has the Government developed a national broadband infrastructure plan?

19. Has the Government updated the national broadband infrastructure
strategy as detailed in New Connections?

20. Has the Government developed a policy that recognises and encourages a
partnership role for the private sector and which maps out, in detail,
implementation plans, timeframes and responsibilities agreed to?

21. If the Government does not plan to develop a policy to work in
partnership with the private sector, why is this position being adopted?

22. Is the resaon that the Government has not appointed a single Minister of
State with cross department responsibility for the rollout of a national
broadband infrastructure and the development of e-Government services due to the fact that this proposal did not recognise the natural split between
responsibility for services (the development for e-Government) and
responsibility for technical and regulatory issues (the rollout of a
national broadband infrastructure)?

23. What policy has the Government developed to encourage closer co-
operation between the Government, the telecoms industry and the end-users of broadband services?

24. Has the Government mandated that all national, regional, county and city development plans incorporate the provision of broadband infrastructure
within such plans?

25. What Government policy is there to ensure that all new developments are
'future-proofed' for broadband?

26. What are the Government policies for addressing how to connect the end
user, typically a residential or small business user, to the backhaul network?

27. What directions, policy or otherwise, have the Government or the
Minister given to ComReg in relation to achieving Local Loop Unbundling?

28. Has ComReg requested legislative powers, policy direction or otherwise
to assist ComReg in completing LLU in the shortest timeframe?

29. What powers or policy direction does ComReg require so that LLU is
completed in the shortest timeframe?

30. What Government policies have been introduced to widen the 'reach' of
broadband technologies?

31. Has the Government restored the CAIT programme?

32. What policies have the Government to address the community sector?

33. What policies has the Government in place to ensure that citizens have
the skills necessary to make use of what universally available and affordable
broadband can deliver

34. What is the Government's policy to encourage business to increase their
usage of broadband technologies?

35. Has any examination been made as to the potential for the Government to
use broadband?

The Joint Committee proposes to review the questions posed with the
Minister, ComReg and Eircom.

Look forward to that review and Sooner rather than later lads .

eircomtribunal

Noel's response to Noel:

Dublin,, 7 March 2006

Noel Dempsey T.D., the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources today welcomed the publication of the Joint Committee's report on the broadband market in Ireland as a useful contribution to the debate on broadband services in Ireland. The Committee's report reinforces the importance of broadband for economic development and competitiveness. However, he felt that the report failed to recognise the real progress made in the broadband market in Ireland.Minister Dempsey said, "it is inaccurate to say that 'progress has been almost non-existent'. The Irish broadband market is growing strongly and many indicators reflect this. The fact is that there were more than a quarter of a million broadband subscribers by the end of 2005, which represents growth of 90% in 12 months. This shows real demand for broadband. The CSO recently found that almost 150,000 new households purchased PCs over a 12-month period. The share of SMEs using broadband has almost doubled."
The Minster added, "It is disappointing that demand by the end-user, the consumer, is being identified as the problem. My Department engages with various stakeholders in the broadband market and I believe that improved broadband access and more competition are the priorities in the broadband market."
The Minister explained that "the Government strategy is clear. The Regional Broadband Programme is increasing the ability of new entrants to extend their services in many towns through the Metropolitan Area Networks, and the Group Broadband Scheme is supporting service providers extending services into rural towns and communities. I will also be introducing new legislation to increase the enforcement powers of Comreg, the telecoms regulator. "

P.

eircomtribunal

And Noel gets praise from Internet and now Google guru Vint Cerv, who most diplomatically criticises the regulator by praising OFCOM:

Speaking at a talk on Tracking the Internet in the 21st Century, Cerf expressed concern about low broadband penetration in Ireland, and compared the country unfavourably against success in South Korea and Hong Kong.

Cerf said there was a case for governmental market intervention to ensure universal broadband access -- especially in rural areas where there may not be private sector incentives. As a template he mentioned the 1934 Universal Service Fund scheme designed to subsidise the roll-out of telephone networks in rural America.

Praising communications minister Noel Dempsey's "energy and depth of understanding" on issues affecting the internet, Cerf went on to extol the regulatory regime in the UK. He said other European countries, and the US, could learn from UK regulator Ofcom's insistence that telecoms providers separate their wholesale and retail divisions.

lucernarian

Some key questions posed by the Oireachtas Committee certainly. I did notice though that there was no real mention of exactly what role does Eircom have in developing a national broadband infrastructure and indeed what role the govt. expects Eircom to have in all this.

I would ask is it possible that they (the Govt.) are expecting Eircom to do everything (or lack thereof) and therefore the govt are unwilling to take action on key issues, instead letting eircom to do as it wants.

I also notice that NTL/UPC with its fairly widespread network is not mentioned. They could be key in providing high-speed internet in many urban areas. Remember that it was Cablelink with their very limited rollout of DOCSIS that triggered TÉ to do anything about ADSL.

damien

IrelandOffline were at the launch of this today along with ComReg, eircom and IBEC and half a dozen reporters we brought with us because someone forgot to invite them. All in all the report is really good just like the last one they did 2 years ago. However we say the demand issue being the number one issue is pure bolloxology and as already seen today is the excuse Dempsey needed to get out of hot water. We warned in our submission to the DCMNR that we will not allow them or anyone else blame the consumers for everyone elses broadband mistakes and we will happily bruise many an ego if needs be to set the record straight.

Saying that it would have been good for everyone to attend this launch because nearly everyone in the Committee really knew what they were talking about and batted away and then attacked excuse filled comments from the IBEC shill in attendance.

We were also told by one member of the Committee that he himself thought availability was the key issue and not demand and that demand was just a red herring thrown in. Sounds like a lifejacket for Dempsey drowning in his sea of dialup.

The real interesting thing was that they were in unison that the current situation is dire and that it is not improving. Noel O'Flynn went so far as to say that things have gotten worse since the last report not better. Apart from the dempsey demand lifesaver the report is good but what's better is the committee are united in their belief that the Government are at fault.

Blaster99

The Minster added, "It is disappointing that demand by the end-user, the consumer, is being identified as the problem. My Department engages with various stakeholders in the broadband market and I believe that improved broadband access and more competition are the priorities in the broadband market."

Sounds like he's throwing away his get-out-of-jail card then.

It sounds like a bit of cross-talk here. The committee presumably referred to LLU when it was talking about no progress. Dempsey commented on general progress in terms of new broadband subscribers, which is a totally different issue obviously.

That list of questions kicks ass. Will the answers be publically available whenever they're forthcoming?

damien

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=184&si=1576035&issue_id=13772

Broadband row sees another FF clash

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Noel Dempsey and Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn have clashed again - this time over a new report on the progress of broadband roll-out.

The report, prepared by the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, states that in the last two years progress in broadband development has been "almost non-existent", and calls on the Government to introduce a new junior ministerial position to deal with our low broadband penetration rates.

Yesterday, Mr Dempsey rejected the claim on progress, stating that it was unfair.

Mr Dempsey and Mr O'Flynn, who is chairman of the Oireachtas Committee, clashed recently over the Sea Fisheries Bill, which was opposed by trawler fishermen.

The committee also accused the Government of "inaction" on implementing recommendations made by the committee in its second report, published in March 2004. It added that there has been "a lack of a Government policy response that indicates that the Government gives this key economic imperative the attention required" and Eircom's "almost total lack" of local loop unbundling was also cited as a roadblock. The report said the universal provision of affordable broadband was crucial to Ireland's becoming a knowledge-based economy.

It said the issue needed "the full and concentrated attention" of the Government.

It has published 35 questions it says.

It now wants answers from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources relating to the roll-out of broadband in Ireland.

damien

Dempsey says there's demand:

http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/Minister+responds+to+the+Joint+Committee%E2%80%99s+Report+on+Broadband.htm

Minister Dempsey said, “it is inaccurate to say that ‘progress has been almost non-existent’. The Irish broadband market is growing strongly and many indicators reflect this. The fact is that there were more than a quarter of a million broadband subscribers by the end of 2005, which represents growth of 90% in 12 months. This shows real demand for broadband. The CSO recently found that almost 150,000 new households purchased PCs over a 12-month period. The share of SMEs using broadband has almost doubled.”

The Minster added, “It is disappointing that demand by the end-user, the consumer, is being identified as the problem. My Department engages with various stakeholders in the broadband market and I believe that improved broadband access and more competition are the priorities in the broadband market.”

While the FUD about progress is well FUD, I have to agree with him that there is demand.

Sponge Bob

Can you write the 35 answers out while you are in the Dáil in between voting on perverts next week Noel, I am fed up waiting for the answers now.