less spin - more facts

bealtine

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_1011091.shtml

Irish broadband penetration still below EU25 average
By Finfacts Team
Sep 10, 2007, 01:45


In presenting broadband penetration benchmarks for European countries, ComReg says it uses either OECD or ECTA (European Competitive Telecommunications Association) data based on the most recently published statistics at the time of publication. ComReg provides broadband data for Ireland to both organisations. The chart above illustrates broadband penetration rates calculated by the ECTA on a per capita basis at the end of March 2007. ECTA calculated Ireland’s broadband penetration at 14.3% in March 2007, compared to an average of 18.1% across the EU25 countries monitored. ComReg estimates that Irish broadband penetration (including mobile broadband) in June 2007 was 16.48%. The Netherlands' rate in March was 33% followed by Denmark at 31% and Finland at 28.1%. Chart from Page 27 of Quarterly Report.

The Irish Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) on Sunday published its Quarterly Report for the second quarter of 2007.

Highlights of the Q2 2007 report:

* Including mobile broadband users for the first time, there was almost 700,000 Broadband subscribers in Ireland at the end of June 2007. Mobile Broadband subscriptions accounted for 45,000 of the overall figure and it is one of the fastest growing segments of the Broadband market.
* The total number of internet users in Ireland has continued to increase and has reached 1.1 million. Over 63% of these users have a broadband service.
* Overall revenue for the electronic communications market grew to €1.13bn in the three months to end June 2007, or €4.51 billion on an annualised basis.
* Eircom’s market share of in terms of revenue has continued fall and it is down 2% this quarter and down 6% on the same period last year.
* The mobile phone penetration rate reached 114% in Q2 2007; this amounted to 4.8 million 2G and 3G mobile phone subscribers.
* For the first time this quarter ComReg has reported 3 Ireland’s market share. The market share of the 4 mobile operators in Ireland in terms of subscribers is as follows: Vodafone – 45.3%, O2 – 33.8%, Meteor – 18.1% and 3 Ireland – 2.8%.
* A total of 1.79 billion text messages were sent by Irish mobile users in Q2 2007. This is an average of 123 messages per subscription, per month in the quarter.
* There were around 2.13 billion voice minutes originating on mobile networks during the quarter, while there were 2.35 billion fixed originating minutes. Traditional voice minutes or fixed minutes continued to fall down 9% year-on-year while mobile minutes grew by 22% during the same period.

The emerging trends section of the report examines digital radio and television broadcasting.

The following is an analysis of the ComReg Quarterly data by Damien Mulley, independent commentator on broadband and telecoms and former chairman of broadband lobby group IrelandOffline.

Summary:

Highest mobile costs in entire EU. €14.67 per month per customer higher than EU average. French talk more than Irish yet pay almost €10 less per month

Addition of mobile "broadband" numbers is too early. Market is too unsettled with massive ongoing problems with some networks and 100s if not 1000s of customers having severe connectivity issues with speeds just faster than ISDN.

Line rental once again distinctly missing from fixed line comparisons, making Ireland look much better than what the average Irish phone bill actually reflects.

1. Highest mobile costs in entire EU - - Pg 35 and 36 of ComReg survey

The APRU (Average revenue per user) is an indication of average monthly revenue generated by mobile subscribers in each country. Mobile ARPU in Ireland is estimated at €44.07 per user per month.

The EU average for APRU is €29.40, this is €14.67 per month per customer higher than EU average.

Meanwhile the average APRU in Germany is €19.73 a month, well over half compared to Ireland, some €24.34 a month cheaper.

Talk time. Do the Irish talk most and so have highest spend? NO

ComReg compare talktime versus spend in Figure 4.4.2 on page 38 of their report. It only samples a few countries, none of which are the talkative Scandinavian countries, however even in this tiny sample it shows France talks more than Ireland yet pay €34.66 a month for mobile bills. €9.41 cheaper a month per user than Ireland

2. Addition of mobile "broadband" numbers is too early - - See Page 23 and 24 of ComReg survey

While mobile broadband growth has been nothing short of fantastic, it appears the networks have been having problems with the unforeseen demand. 3 Ireland have had numerous problems with their network with 100s of people complaining about slower than dialup speeds and blackouts. ComReg have no cut-off points which will remove a slow or disconnected "broadband" product from the stats.

Owning a dead broadband modem should not be shown as a working broadband connection on ComReg statistics as it is not a true reflection of broadband in Ireland. ComReg does not address this.

Obfuscation of satellite numbers is unwelcome

Bundling of "satellite" and "fibre" into a single number (8,900) does not show the low numbers of fibre connections and the high number of an inferior satellite product which continue to grow. Satellite Internet is a last straw "broadband" solution for those desperate for a high speed Internet connection. Install costs range from €700 up to €2000 with monthly costs ranging from €80 to €200. ComReg need to disclose these numbers in a transparent manner in their main report.

3. Line rental once again distinctly missing from fixed line comparisons Page 16

Line rental is not included in the ComReg landline bill comparisons.

Were it included, the pricing would dramatically change, making Ireland appear as one of the countries in Europe with the highest actual phone bills for landline users.

Why does ComReg leave out line rental when it contributes to the highest static cost in an Irish phone bill?

Line rental can be found in an old ComReg report here:

http://comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0628.pdf (page 17). Since that report, Irish line rental has increased again to €25.36 a month for Ireland.

When last measured, the EU average was €15.10 Making Ireland €10.2 euros more expensive than EU average per month for line rental.

Almost €6 more expensive than second most expensive country.


© Copyright 2007 by Finfacts.com

watty

maybe 4000 satellite users (guess based on ONE company having 3000+ users).
So 4900 Fibre users..

Why add these totally unrelated segments..
800ms 1Mbps satellite vs 10ms 100Mbps min fibre????

bk

watty wrote:

maybe 4000 satellite users (guess based on ONE company having 3000+ users).
So 4900 Fibre users..

I wonder how Smart and Magnet FTTH customers are counted, as they are actually FTTB with DSL or ethernet to each actual apartment?

Do they count each separate apartment as a DSL/ethernet connection or a Fibre connection or the whole development as a single Fibre connection?

wreckless

:eek:

Shocking but nothing new eh guys?

rip off ireland is still alive and kicking