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Ireland Offline told ElectricNews.Net that at European Commission hearings on 8 July, it will highlight what it described as the government's failure to provide Internet access for all.
The Commission hearings will look at issues such as progress in local loop unbundling and the provision of broadband in Europe. Ireland Offline said that it was its understanding that no official government representative will attend the hearing, although it is expected that the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation will be speaking at the event.
"The ODTR's view of how Ireland is doing in terms of Internet access is likely to be in conflict with the view of Ireland Offline, so we felt that it was important that our members' voices were heard," said the organisation's chairman, David Long.
"For instance, it is quite clear that the number of Internet users in Ireland has stagnated, yet the ODTR still hasn't taken a visionary stance on the introduction of flat-rate Internet access and competitively priced broadband access," commented Long. "Such products are available throughout the EU and even in countries like Iran and Russia, but not in Ireland. How can Ireland become the e-hub of Europe when its citizens are denied these basic services?"
Long added that Ireland Offline will present the results to date of its survey on Internet access pricing to the hearing, as well as meet with the European Information Society Commission and the EU Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, David Byrne, during its trip to Brussels.
Irish Internet users have never been able to avail of 24-7 flat-rate Internet access, but Eircom has recently introduced high-speed access via ADSL. However, Long remarked that Eircom's I-Stream service is far too expensive.
"I-Stream's basic offering will cost users around EUR1,300 a year, not including the connection or equipment fees, and has a download cap of 3 Gigabytes a month, with an additional EUR0.03 charge for every megabyte downloaded in excess of that limit. This is not affordable for many people and is not acceptable to a lot of our members," he remarked.
In addition, Long criticised the government for failing to understand Ireland's possible digital future by not introducing a dedicated e-minister. "The Minister for the Information Society is also Junior Minister for Defence and Government Chief Whip. It is clear that the Minister will not have sufficient time to devote to the Information Society aspect of her portfolio," said Long.
Further information can be found at the Ireland Offline Web site.
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