EC Public Hearing on LLU / Global Internet Usage Up

dahamsta

ElectricNews.Net

The European Commission is calling a public hearing on the unbundling of the local loop (ULL), that is, access to the last mile of telephone lines into European homes. The public meeting, which will take place in Brussels on 08 July, is to facilitate analysis of the remaining difficulties in the implementation of LLU and the progress of competition in the provision of broadband access and services. The EC's Competition Directorate-General will present its findings in the second phase of its local loop sector enquiry. The industry will be asked to share their experiences and express their views on how to render effective ULL. Those interested in participating in the hearing should e-mail the EC at comp-local-loop@cec.eu.int by 15 June, including contact details and with "invitation" as the subject heading.

Read the press release here. Anyone fancy sponsoring IrelandOffline a trip?

There has been a marked increase in monthly Internet sessions and time spent on-line around the world, according to a report by Nielsen//NetRatings. A comparison of global Internet usage between April 2001 and April 2002 showed that time spent on-line per month increased almost 13 percent, and the number of sessions per month increased nearly 9 percent across 21 countries. Worldwide, the number of active home users of the Internet grew nearly 18 percent year-on-year.

(More here.)

Meanwhile, back in Ireland...

adam

Moriarty

Originally posted by dahamsta
ElectricNews.Net

Read the press release here. Anyone fancy sponsoring IrelandOffline a trip?

Would be great to get a representitive over for this..

dahamsta

-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Beecher
Sent: 13 June 2002 11:17
To: [email]comp-local-loop@cec.eu.int[/email]
Subject: Public Hearing


Hi there,

My name is Adam Beecher, and I'm the public relations officer for
IrelandOffline, an organisation campaigning for affordable Internet access
services in Ireland; both for consumers and small businesses. We would very
much like to send a representative to the upcoming hearing on Local Loop
Unbundling, primarily to highlight the lack of competition in this
marketplace in our country, even in light of the fact that the EU Regulation
has apparently been fully implemented. [Excepting subloop unbundling, which
the ODTR assures me is being processed.]

IrelandOffline has come to be recognised as a de facto representative group
by both Irish Governmental organisations such as the ODTR and the Department
of Public Enterprise, by the operators themselves, and by the media; however
our organisation is a voluntary, non-funded organisation, and we would have
serious difficulties getting a representative to Brussels for the hearing.
To that end, I would like to respectfully ask if the Commission is in a
position to provide any kind of assistance to our organisation; that will
allow us to travel to Brussels and express our concerns.

I would be happy to provide further information if necessary, you can
contact me at this email address; by phone on +353 21 XXXXXXX; or by letter
post at: Box 81, Eglinton Street, Cork, Ireland.

Thank you,
Adam Beecher


+-----------------------------------+
| Adam Beecher, PRO, IrelandOffline |
|      [url]www.irelandoffline.com[/url]       |
|  "I can't be having with this!"   |
+-----------------------------------+

dahamsta

Somewhat disappointingly, only four of the fifteen Irish MEP's - Nuala Ahern, Patricia McKenna, Pat Cox & John Cushnahan - have published email addresses on the EU website. Does anyone here have addresses for the rest?

adam

MDR

Had we more notice we could of booked someone over on a cheapo Ryanair Flight, coming back the same day. I would have quite happily put some cash towards it.

er Hang on I have just relised that the 15th of June is a saturday ... are you sure this article is correct ???????

MDR

Ok I actually bothered to read the article so I am going to answer my own question, the flight is going to cost 74.28 EUR same day return, and whoever will go will need some lunch money as well. What we need is perhaps some generous members to donate some cash towards the cause ???

dahamsta

What we need is perhaps some generous members to donate some cash towards the cause ???

We've already had a couple of offers MDR, however when calculating costs it might be wise to consider the possible benefits of an overnight stay. It would be an ideal opportunity for IrelandOffline to meet with our representatives in Europe, and to open proper communications with the Competition Commission and the Enterprise and Information Society. I believe this is absolutely vital at this stage of the game, since Ireland itself seems embarassingly disinclined to promote competition in Ireland. If Ireland won't do it, the EU must be encouraged to bring pressure to bear on the Irish Government. At the very least, Monti must be convinced that concentrating on high-profile cases of anti-competitive behaviour in Europe is severely impacting the smaller countries like Ireland.

adam