ALTO calls for structural separation of Eircom

bealtine

Irish trade group ALTO (Alternative Operators in the Communications Market) is calling for Eircom to be separated after the latest 2010 ECTA Regulatory Scorecard showed that Ireland was failing to create an open market with Eircom still remaining the dominant operator. The Scorecard, which gauges telecoms regulation in 22 European markets, ranked Ireland in 6th place for its regulatory landscape. ALTO argues that the report shows that the Irish government and regulator ComReg have tried a range of remedies to make the market more open to other operators but these have failed. ALTO chairman Ronan Lupton is now calling on ComReg to separate Eircom into retail and wholesale businesses, effectively meaning that Eircom would deal with alternative operators on an even level. The scorecard also notes the high prevalence of mobile broadband in Ireland, with Ireland Ireland is using twice the European average of mobile broadband at 10.5 percent compared to the scorecard's top performer, The Netherlands. ALTO warns against allowing the Irish broadband market to become reliant on mobile as the technology offers internet speeds far lower than what is needed for business and even for next generation domestic use.

Tom Young

I just checked their website ... that separation sought it Functional Separation not Structural.