European commission UPDATE!

BoneCollector

After the overwhelming!! response to my last mail...
European Connection
I have decided to post an update i recieved today, maybe this wil be of some interest to someone


Thanks a lot for your email and for bringing these matters to our attention.

The European Commission is well aware of the slow development of broadband
Internet access in several EU Member States. This is the reason why
"cheaper, faster and secure Internet" is one of the top priority of our
eEurope 2002 Action Plan. I invite you to check the detail of the Action
Plan on our eEurope Web site (http://europa.eu.int/eeurope).

Within the scope of its competencies, the Commission aims to create
favourable conditions in the Member States to promote the development of
broadband Internet. The main regulatory measures in this respect have been
the full liberalisation of telecommunications markets in 1998 and the
unbundling of the local loop in 2001. Local loop unbundling means that new
entrants have access to the network of the incumbent operator to offer
flat-rate Internet access using the ADSL technology. This is a technology
which allows to provide faster Internet access over regular copper phone
lines (up to 1.5-8 Mbps). I invite you to check the 7th telecoms
implementation report, to be adopted before Christmas, to check the telecoms
liberalisation situation in Ireland (it will be available on the news
section of the eEurope Web site at
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/news_library/index_en.htm).

As far as the respective performance of each EU Member State is concerned,
the Commission monitors national progress in the framework of the eEurope
Action Plan. A benchmarking exercise was launched in 2000 and covers key
areas such as broadband, education, security, e-commerce, e-government,
e-health, etc. The results are available on the benchmarking section of our
eEurope Web site
(http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/benchmarking/index_en.htm)
.

Regarding the specific situation of Ireland in the field of broadband,
according to an independent study realised for the Commission, there was
indeed no broadband offers in Ireland by the time it was completed (i.e. in
August 2001). However, offers were to be launched shortly. This includes an
ADSL service by Eircom and cable modem services by Cablelink and
Multichannel. Also, local loop unbundling should have taken place by now,
allowing new entrants to offer rival ADSL services (this could include Esat,
which already competes with Eircom). The study underlines that a high level
of Internet take-up combined with competition in broadband is a major
stimulator of take-up. It therefore looks like the conditions are now set in
Ireland, as in several other Member States, to see a fast roll-out and
take-up of broadband Internet access.

Also according to this study, so far, ADSL and cable modem offer only a
fraction of the bandwidth they can potentially offer: from 64-128 Kpbs
(which is similar to ISDN) up to 256-512 Kpbs in most cases (more in only a
few cases). This is the case all over Europe and also the USA. There is no
doubt that offers will improve over time as broadband access because
mainstream: more than half of EU Internet homes should have access via cable
modem or ADSL by 2005. Furthermore, it is also clear that ADSL and cable
modem are only transition technologies to genuine broadband access over
fibre optic networks, which is currently the only future-proof technology,
offering unlimited bandwidth. Alternative wireless and satellite
technologies should also grow in parrallel. This independent study of
broadband in the EU is available on our eEurope Web site at
(http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/news_library/new_documents/broadband/index_en.htm).

Please do not hesitate to contact me for further comments or questions.

Best regards - Denis Baresch

__________________________________________________


Denis Baresch

European Commission
Directorate General Information Society
"Analysis, policy planning, eEurope"
200, rue de la Loi (BU24 - 1/15)
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. +32.2.296.88.48 - Fax +32.2.296.17.80
http://europa.eu.int/eeurope
__________________________________________________

dahamsta

Regarding the specific situation of Ireland in the field of broadband, according to an independent study realised for the Commission, there was indeed no broadband offers in Ireland by the time it was completed (i.e. in August 2001). However, offers were to be launched shortly. This includes an ADSL service by Eircom and cable modem services by Cablelink and Multichannel. Also, local loop unbundling should have taken place by now, allowing new entrants to offer rival ADSL services (this could include Esat, which already competes with Eircom). The study underlines that a high level of Internet take-up combined with competition in broadband is a major stimulator of take-up. It therefore looks like the conditions are now set in Ireland, as in several other Member States, to see a fast roll-out and take-up of broadband Internet access.

They are?

/adam looks around

Mountjoy Mugger

There is no
doubt that offers will improve over time as broadband access because
mainstream: more than half of EU Internet homes should have access via cable
modem or ADSL by 2005. Furthermore, it is also clear that ADSL and cable
modem are only transition technologies to genuine broadband access over
fibre optic networks, which is currently the only future-proof technology,
offering unlimited bandwidth. Alternative wireless and satellite
technologies should also grow in parrallel.<br>

They are?

/adam looks around

Hmm - it's scary, isn't it? Of course, the EU could also argue the case that Ireland has such a small population that even if we have only the handful of current beta testers of ADSL in 2005, the fact that the EU average will probably have over half the population hooked up to cable/xDSL without us.

Are they aware of the current ODTR intervention, I wonder?

dahamsta

Meant to say, well done for keeping on top of this BoneCollector. Keep up the good work!

adam

disConnected

Thanks a lot BoneCollector...

Just too sad to see that the reply from 'yer man' is so meagre.
But I guess that's just the info that is passed on to Belgium from the major players and the Government over here.
Mr. Baresch and Colleagues probably rely purely on what they are hearing from those guys over here.
Maybe these bureaucrats in Europe could try a little harder when doing their research....
What about actually asking the Internet Users???? (Hope this idea is not too radical.)

vinnyfitz

I don't agree this response is meagre. I think it is frank, informative and carefully phrased.

This Mr Baresch is inviting us to come back to him.
We should do so and tell him the information that Ireland/ the consultants provided to the Commission in August is out of date etc.
These guys don't manage the Irish Telecoms market - that is the job of our own government. If they tried we would not thank them for it. But if we officially advise him of stuff he can exercise quite a lot of pressure on the Irish Authorities.