[BBC] Net protests mount in Ireland

timod

Thought it best to start a new thread....

from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2377447.stm

Net protests mount in Ireland

By Jane Wakefield, BBC News Online technology staff

Consumers are fed up with paying per minute for net services in Ireland and urgent action needs to be taken if the so-called Celtic Tiger is to stay competitive, say critics.
Both IrelandOffline, a campaign group lobbying for unmetered net access, and telecom operators desperate to introduce new services to their customers, want to see radical changes soon.
The government is backing the campaign with Dermot Ahern, Minister for Communications in Ireland, calling for flat-rate internet access to be introduced in the Irish Republic as a matter of priority.
He wants to see an overhaul of the Irish telecoms watchdog, to give it radical new powers to push through changes which could see Ireland's incumbent phone company, Eircom, forced to introduce unmetered access early next year.

Corporate frustration

It will not be a moment too soon, say campaigners.
Currently consumers and small businesses that use the internet must pay per minute for online time rather than having unlimited access for a flat-rate monthly cost as in the UK.
Some of the larger firms that have made their base in Ireland have overcome the lack of reliable and fast connections by having their own networks installed.
But increasingly high-profile firms such as Microsoft are speaking out about the lack of high- speed networks.
"US multinationals, which form the backbone of the Irish economy, are thinking long and hard about locating in Ireland because the infrastructure just isn't there," said Una McGirr, spokeswoman for ESAT BT, one of the main telecom operators in the republic.
Broadband barely registers on the net radar in Ireland with less than 2,000 installations to date.
In a recent OECD study Ireland came second bottom of a worldwide league table of broadband connections.

Unmetered priority

"For the so-called Celtic Tiger and a nation aspiring to be the e-hub of Europe this is a little contradictory," said Ms McGirr.
The biggest priority for IrelandOffline is to get narrowband unmetered access - introduced in the UK two years ago - to Irish consumers.
"The Irish perception of going online is governed by the fact they pay per minute. Consumers are used to short sessions," explained David Long, Chairman of IrelandOffline.
A technology graduate himself, Mr Long is considering moving out of the Republic due to the poor level of connectivity.
"After my state sponsored education in a field that the has been prioritised by the Irish Government to ensure Ireland operates a knowledge economy, I see far greater opportunity to put my skills to work in more connected countries," he said.
His comments fly counter to those expressed by Michael Ahern, Minister of State for Trade and Employment who told BBC News Online that net services were making a radical difference to Irish communities and preventing emigration.
This view is "worryingly inaccurate" said Mr Long.
The situation currently being experienced by providers and consumers in Ireland has striking similarities to the campaign in the UK three years ago which led to BT rolling out unmetered access in the UK in the summer of 2000.
Eircom declined to comment as to why it has, to date, failed to offer unmetered services to operators and consumers.

Time to listen

"Eircom has cited congestion of the network and not enough demand as the arguments against unmetered," said Mr Long.
BT-owned ESAT is just one of the telecom operators challenging Eircom to offer a wholesale unmetered product.
"There is huge pent-up demand and our ears are sore from listening to our own customers. For Eircom to say there is no demand is condescending and naïve," said Ms McGirr.
"Eircom has buckets of capacity so that is not a problem either," she added.
The need for flat-rate unmetered net access is the most important debate in the net industry in Ireland at the current time and Eircom cannot afford not to listen, said Ms McGirr.
"There is such strong demand and unprecedented pressure that Eircom won't be able to turn their backs on it," she said.
Operators are in the early stages of negotiations with Eircom.

Nice one

Tim

spongebob

In case the BBC Online thread is a bit long...I am sure a mod can whip all of these together anyway..... heres is a recap of what has happened in the past week.

1. BBC publishes press statement from Minishter Ahern 261002 .... oh dear , what was the minishter on when he said all this.

2. Various IoffL affiliated persons point to the inconsistencies between the article and reality.

3. BBC graciously and comprehensively corrects the false impression it gave a week before with This Article 041102. At 2PM on the 041102 it is the TOP Technology story on the BBC News Website Here .

Now if some of our own 'journalists' were as professional and thorough then we might not be campaigning for a late 20th century Telecomms system in the 21st ...but then the BBC wouldn't have a story to publish would it.

M

Paddy20

Sheer magic,

Lets just hope that the Irish and International media pick up on this article, and give it appropriate newspaper coverage plus "Radio & TV airtime?.

The power of the pen and the IOFFL membership EH!

Get under the nearest desk, "Eircom Rat" Someone is coming too get you.

Yours,

paddy20;)

MDR

Now is some of our own 'journalists' were as professional and thorough then we might not be campaigning for a late 20th century Telecomms system in the 21st ...but then the BBC wouldn't have a story to publish would

You don't read the SBPost then ?

3. BBC graciously and comprehensively corrects the false impression it gave a week before with This Article 041102

Should read

3. BBC graciously and comprehensively corrects the false impression it gave a week before with This Article 041102 (with quite a bit of help from Dave).

spongebob

nahh the Sunday Tribune

who are not good at correcting themselves especially when wrong

M

ednwireland

sent the link to my td's for what good it'll do me

Dustaz

What a great article. She sets out the whole situation very simply and (from my angle anyway) refuses to be confused by spin and draws the correct conclusions. This article is so informative ive emailed it to a few people already.

scojones

great article. Looks like we are moving slowly but surely. If only the likes of rte.ie would do something like this. Not likely seeing as Eircom sponsor their weather, -i think-. :mad:

vinnyfitz

"Eircom declined to comment as to why it has, to date, failed to offer unmetered services to operators and consumers. "

Surely Eircom could have found somebody in their PR department to talk to the mighty Beeb?

I also like the link to the IOFFL website alongside the story!

MDR

Surely Eircom could have found somebody in their PR department to talk to the mighty Beeb?

Eh, we haven't offered unmetered services because we make to much money from having metered services ...

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

MDR

now if we could get some of the big media outlets here to pick up on this story

am working on that at the moment,
watch this space 'cos I will need help our new 'Press Pack' in a week or two.

scojones

this story was featured on net news on 2fm today at 3:50. He quoted from the bbc page and mentioned all the important points made on the page. He also said he too was sick of paying by the minute for net access. gareth o callihan (can't spell) was the dj. He said the things david long said about ahern being inaccurate ect. This is a big step, non?

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

yellum

The BBC is one of the most respected news organisations in the world. Its a coup getting on to the BBC. Already other organisations are taking notice. Way to go !

( See I can be non-negative at times )

yellum

Can this thread be merged with the other BBC related threads ? The Drudge report one and the Beeb one posted by Muck ?

spongebob

Do it in strictly chronological order and then sticky it.

Ruu_Old

very cool, i heard the radio show at work. It mentioned IOLF (who had been mentioned a lot of the show) and that companys are sick of paying per minute, like Microsoft they said are frustrated with lack of broadband and high speed networks.

ando

Originally posted by Ruu
very cool, i heard the radio show at work. It mentioned IOLF (who had been mentioned a lot of the show) and that companys are sick of paying per minute, like Microsoft they said are frustrated with lack of broadband and high speed networks.

yep, i also heard it

Gareth was pretty confident saying we will have flat rate by spring

vinnyfitz

Mmmm

Lets work it out:
Directive not issued till new Commission in place.
So lets say 10 December.
21 day consultation period overlaps Xmas so will probably be extended.
So lets say consultation period closes 12 January.
Minister reviews responses to consultation and decides (a) no legal impediment to issuing Directive
So lets say Directive finally issued to Reg Com on 1 February
or (b) Minister finds consultation throws up legal impediments to issuing Directive and asks Attorney General or other legal experts for advice in which case lets assume process delayed by e.g. 12 months.

Anyway lets assume result (a) so the Reg Com get their instructionsd in the post on 1 February next.

Reg Com immediatly set about preparing consultation paper explaining how they propose to mandate Flat Rate (will they consult on the maximum price at which it can be offered at this stage? Will they consult on whether it has to be offered nationwide all at the same time? ).
Lets say they have a paper ready to publish on 1 March (optimistic)
Consultation paper issued to operators and consumer interests for comment (Say deadline of 2 weeks since it can be argued that the issue is allready being widely discussed)

Lets say deadline for responses: Paddy's weekend.

Regcom review responses and decide to issue formal decision very fast i.e. within 4 weeks.
Lets say 15 April.

What deadline will they impose on Eircom to implement the decision? Lets be optimistic once again and assume they rule that Eircom should be able to sort out all the technology. billing and marketing dilemmas within 90 days.
Lets say Flat Rate implemented Mid July 2003.

Sorry Garrett no spring offerings I'm afraid.


I'm not trying to be negative here but if the Department and RegCom are going to cover their backs they need to make sure they operate a controversial decision like this within the law.

In fact the scenario I'm speculating about is quite an optimistic one - rember I'm assuming Eircom won't challenge this in the courts at any stage.

flamegrill

Originally posted by ando
yep, i also heard it

Gareth was pretty confident saying we will have flat rate by spring

BY SPRING????

It should be available tommorrow, as there is fúck all that has to be done to introduce flat rate nationwide.

its all a big load of codswallop.

Wan 2fm and respect to the BBC for the coverage.

i can see DSL in the not too distant future now...

PiE

Eircom declined to comment as to why it has, to date, failed to offer unmetered services to operators and consumers.

I like that, it's sounds very damning in the context of the story :]

Ruu_Old

have Eircom EVER replied or commented on their reason not to introduce flat rate, apart from the lamo ... theres no market for that type o' thing response

SkepticOne

Originally posted by Ruu
have Eircom EVER replied or commented on their reason not to introduce flat rate, apart from the lamo ... theres no market for that type o' thing response

Previously, they have responded in the Irish papers about lack of demand, difficulty in providing service etc. Obviously, they could not think of anything to say to a journalist who is probably takes home broadband for granted, let alone flat-rate Internet.

Paddy20

Well, I have faxed the full story too all" local media" in Donegal.

Just hope they use it, I have this strange feeling that they will ?

Yours,

paddy20;)

yellum

And now the Bloggers have picked it up.

http://www.kirbycom.com/archives/000160.html

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

yellum

Lets try and BoingBoing it

scojones

Originally posted by daveirl
this seems good! Tell me more about the net news segment. I don't listen to 2fm

pm sent

saik

Eircom has cited congestion of the network and not enough demand as the arguments against unmetered,"

ahahha surely the arguments cited are contradictory? zZz.

hope I haven't missed something there...

Sticky

There is currently a link to this article on the front page of Wired, in their 'Elsewhere Today' section (2nd story down).