IrelandOffline Politics Project - Pester your local pol

damien

(I'd appreciate banter kept off this thread so we can concentrate on the actual project itself.)

With the electioneering in full flow, we want to contact every Irish politician and have them commit to a few things, as well as ask them questions on their views on broadband. Surprisingly enough, broadband is one of the frequent things mentioned on the doorsteps when the politicians come a knocking.

We released a press release this week where we called on all political parties to commit to the latest Oireachtas recommendations, which were:

The two recommendations made today by the Oireachtas are:

1. The Joint Committee recommends the establishment of a stakeholders
group to agree a short term plan that addresses market failure.

2. Following on recommendation 1 above, set in place a publicly funded
programme, that is run as an open tender to provide nationwide
broadband access.

In addition, the previous reports made 12 recommendations. (Quite old at this stage but valid)

1. Defines broadband as 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 .
2. Develop a National Broadband Infrastructure Plan in 2004 .
3. Appoint a single Minister of State with cross department responsibility for the rollout of a national broadband infrastructure and the development of e-Government services .
4. Encourage closer co-operation between the Government, the telecoms industry and the end-users of broadband services .
5. Mandate that all national, regional, county and city development plans incorporate the provision of broadband infrastructure with such plans .
6. Ensure that all new developments are ‘future-proofed' for broadband.
7. Focus on “bridging of the first mile” as the first key policy issue.
8. Establish the proposed Management Service Enterprise (MSE) to ensure all existing broadband assets are put to full use.
9. Introduce measures to widen the ‘reach' of broadband technologies .
10. Improve skills to allow greater broadband access .
11. Encourage business to increase their usage of broadband technologies .
12. Fully examine the potential of Government to use broadband.

So, with these, I'm asking you now to contact all your local TDs, councillors and election hopefuls and to ask them to give their word now that if they are in power they will enact the latest recommendations and fully support and endorse the older 12 recommendations as well. Add more questions too and make them shake or sign on it.

Use this thread to make note of all the people you have contacted, what the constituency is and what you asked of them and what if any replies you have gotten. It might be worth mentioning all of the answers and non-answers will be put online.

E-mail addresses for Members of the Oireachtas who hold accounts on the Office's system follow the convention: Firstname.surname@oireachtas.ie

Best of luck.

Blaster99

I don't know if this qualifies as banter, but it would be useful to get the message down to an elevator pitch that one can use when the canvassers call at the door with their notebooks. They seem to like to hear things like "child care is expensive", so if the message could be compressed to a couple of lines then it would work. Incidentally, stuff like "broadband for everyone" is unlikely to be of much use in my neck of the woods because anyone who wants broadband can get it. I have toyed around with going off on a rant about regulation and public service performance and accountability but I can't see it going anywhere because it's just too abstract for the notebook encounter.

thebman

Wouldn't the one liner be commit to implementing the Oireachtas recommendations on broadband?

edit---

Might be an idea to put something about this on the IO blog since the last post on that site was 21/12/06, is it dead or what's the story?

cgarvey

brim4brim wrote:

Might be an idea to put something about this on the IO blog since the last post on that site was 21/12/06, is it dead or what's the story?

My bad, I was using the wrong category.

IoffL haven't published anything on the website other than press releases. I've no problem posting it (or similar IoffL news), but that would need an agreement from the committee.

Hacketry

I'm expecting Micky McDowell at a launch thing in my constituency tomorrow so I'll ask him about the recommendations. I imagine broadband is pretty much 100 percent available in southeast Dublin but I haven't heard him or the PDs say anything on the topic so far. (I'm open to correction ofcourse.)

Blaster99 wrote:

I don't know if this qualifies as banter, but it would be useful to get the message down to an elevator pitch that one can use when the canvassers call at the door with their notebooks.

Broadband for boggers?

I better go and find the fire extinguisher...

clohamon

Like the others I suggest you keep it simple.

To Government TDs:

I will be voting against you because of ten years of Broadband failure.


To Opposition TDs:

I will be voting against you unless, before the election, your leader commits to implementing universal Broadband within three years.

watty

Hacketry wrote:

I'm expecting Micky McDowell at a launch thing in my constituency tomorrow so I'll ask him about the recommendations. I imagine broadband is pretty much 100 percent available in southeast Dublin

I'm sure it isn't. Nothing like. But eircom won't make the figures public on failure rates.

Even apart from fact that as Line Rental heads toward 30 Euro over 30% of households don't have a phone line at all.

Affordability is part of the equation.

thebman

Also if people are renting, some landlords don't want phone lines installed because they consider a hassle when people are moving out.

Some won't let you put attachements on roofs either for wireless.

As the government has made buying a house unaffordable to someone on the average industrial wage then there needs to be a solution that works in the above scenario's.

The likes of Clearwire where there is no attachment (at least that I know of) suits towns which is where most people rent. It also suits people who can't get a phone line and so is perfect for most towns (not suggesting it should go to Clearwire because AFAIK they block ports which is unacceptable as far as I'm concerned).

Its probably expensive to offer this type of broadband and I'm sure its probably not as reliable as a phone line which is why just using one technology for the role out is basically unacceptable.

Hacketry

Asked Big Mac about broadband today.

He said it hadn't come up as an issue on the doorsteps yet, and told me to give my number to one of his flunkies. Brunette staffer said national broadband tender would probably be ready tomorrow.

I'm by no means a PD supporter and they will not be geting my vote. However, as the seemingly most pro-business, economically neo-liberal party in the Republic I'm surprised they are not campaigning for increased BB competition and reducing the grip snarecom has on the infrastructure.

I hope they're not reading this.