Eircom is Sold

damien

kaizersoze wrote:

Well done Damien. Be careful he doesn't offer you a job if ye ever get to meet.:p

He kept to his word and his "people" rang my "people" (me) to request an audience. Stay tuned.

kaizersoze

damien.m wrote:

He kept to his word and his "people" rang my "people" (me) to request an audience. Stay tuned.

Don't be swayed by the swanky office and the secretary in the french maids outfit, stick to your guns.:p

dahamsta

kaizersoze wrote:

Don't be swayed by the [...] secretary in the french maids outfit, stick to your guns.

<adam's brain twists into möbius strip>

Altreab

pete wrote:

Since when is that the union's job? They're there to look after their member's interests. End of.

You should probably direct your 'effects on the consumer' queries to the jokers that sold off the family silver to those who'd already paid for it in the first place.

Thats my point exactly....Maintain the status quo .... Zero incentive to change and adapt to new times and ways of doing things ...... The customer comes a VERY long way down the line. Expect the downward spiral of investment in the network and service quality to continue.

Sponge Bob

When in charge of BT Retail Pierre bid for the contract , and won it, and executed it, to supply 100% BB to NI . He is justifiably proud of that achievement.

I see no reason why his track record in NI is in any way incompatible with IoffLs prime directive.

A civilised Dialogue on how to achieve this and as to when it can be achieved is a good thing at this time, especially if Pierre is already convinced of the desirability in principle of universal BB availability.

The eircom 3.5Ghz licence is also heading for an imminent important milestone of the 5 Year Coverage target = 70 % of the population . Thats in June 2006 IIRC .

Therefore by next month 70% of the population should be able to get a wireless solution from eircom where DSL is only available to 60% or so .

Many of the 3.5Ghz bases do not overlap DSL coverage areas .

Pierre seemed fairly confident on 3g as well despite the fact that Eircom do not have a 3G licence

Mr_Man

Given that Comreg have shown very little or no desire to enforce the spectrum coverage requirements I don't think Eircom will be losing too much sleep over the June deadline.

Further given the way that Comreg jumped when Eircom's lawyers sent the letter questioning the award of the 3G license to Smart perhaps Pierre is right to be confident about having an offering.

Again I suggest that Comreg is part of the problem, not part of the solution and the sooner they are dispatched to quango heaven the better for all involved.

M.

eircomtribunal

Slightly different sounds at the other side of the world:

Eircom's boss-to-be considers break-up

By Dominic White in London
May 25, 2006

EIRCOM'S executive chairman to be, Pierre Danon, is to enter talks with the Irish Government about breaking up the country's former phone monopoly once his backers complete a €2.42 billion ($4.12 billion) takeover of the company.

Mr Danon, former chief executive of British Telecom's consumer division, is to become executive chairman of Eircom after it agreed to be taken over by Babcock & Brown and its Employee Share Ownership Trust for €2.20 a share in cash.

The deal will catapult the Frenchman back into the spotlight and prompt Eircom to consider a structural separation of the kind BT baulked at when Mr Danon was on the board.

"I'm not ashamed about it," Mr Danon said after Sir Anthony O'Reilly, Eircom's current chairman, recommended the takeover to shareholders.

Despite regulatory pressure, none of Europe's former telecom monopolies has separated its retailand wholesale divisions.

However, Mr Danon said such a split made more sense in Ireland because it was a medium-sized country with about 4 million inhabitants.

"A lot of governments are now thinking about it and minds are maturing around the idea," he said. "We will talk to the Government and the regulator to gauge if there is an appetite. We want to see whether value can be created."

Analysts wonder how much more value can be generated from Eircom because it has changed hands four times in six years. But Mr Danon said B&B was a long-term investor and any exit would be more than five years away.

"There are some possible efficiencies left in the business such as transforming the IT systems, which are not in very good shape," he said.

"The company has been managed for a quick exit and a little bit starved of innovation so we also have an opportunity to invest in broadband, which is less developed in Ireland."

P.

zuma

So any ideas of how much they might ask for the network?

I can see them asking for far too much and years of discussions before anything happens!

paulm17781

zuma wrote:

So any ideas of how much they might ask for the network?

I thought they wanted to keep the network and ditch the retail arm?

Mr_Man

I don't think the new owners are planning to sell off the network, it is the cash cow in all of the crap that is Eircom. What they are doing is trying to sound out the Government's reaction to splitting the two pieces - specifically can they get any guarantees about the regulatory framework they would face.

Basically they want to know if the poodle that is Comreg can stop its yapping and go away so they can get on with stripping as much value as possible out of the network before flogging it off again.

M.

zuma

This crap makes me absolutely sick!

Its like beating a dead dog....what else can they get out of eircom?

eircomtribunal

"The Irish Line Dance" Long article in the Sunday Times going over the story again in detail

ComReg has so far shown itself to be something of a eunuch in its attempts

There's also an article by Kathleen Barrington in the sbpost: "Customers fear increase in line-rental charges "
P.