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ENN Year in Review 2001: Ireland's waiting game for flat rate Internet
Thursday, December 27 2001
by Andrew McLindon


Ireland's Internet users are to finish the year as they began it: with no 24/7
flat-rate Internet access and no national broadband services.

The lack of flat-rate dial-up Internet access is actually a step backwards for
Ireland, because at the beginning of 2001 Esat was offering its Surf No-Limits
flat-rate package, which it discontinued by summer because of overuse. 



Meanwhile broadband Net access, which was offered by Formus in 2001 and was
supposed to be offered by Eircom, Chorus and NTL by the end of the year, has made
no significant in-roads in Ireland. In fact the closure in March of Formus, which
offered wireless broadband access, left Ireland with no consumer broadband
product and little hope that one would soon emerge. 



All of these factors have led to substantial resentment from consumers and SMEs
which boiled steadily throughout the year, culminating in a November boycott. A
group of Net users led by the pressure group Ireland Offline led a day-long
protest at the lack of affordable and high-speed Net access offerings available
here. 



In truth the statistics do back up their position -- an OECD survey released in
November ranked Ireland as a sorry 27th out of 30 OECD countries in terms of
broadband development. Only Greece, the Slovak Republic and Turkey came in behind
us.



"For the last four years we have been told broadband is just around the corner,
but it hasn't happened. It has been incredibly frustrating," commented Adam
Beecher, acting spokesperson for Ireland Offline.



In fact Ireland Offline was born in mid 2001 as a reaction to Esat's decision to
cancel its flat-rate Internet package, a move that may have been financially
appropriate for the telco but that created a wave of consumer backlash that
gained momentum throughout the year.



BROADBAND? WHAT BROADBAND?



The progress of broadband access in Ireland has been just as poor as flat-rate
access. Broadband is seen as a crucially important technology because it gives
users Internet access at speeds far greater than standard modems or ISDN and is
considered a necessity for any nation vying to be an e-hub.



But, despite broadband's obvious appeal for businesses and consumers, it was not
until September of this year that Eircom finally announced its broadband Internet
access service, i-stream. The announcement of the service, which was aimed mainly
at large SMEs and corporates, was generally seen as a positive step, despite some
complaints that its scope was limited and its price point too high. 



But i-stream ran out of steam before it ever came to market due to a dispute with
Ireland's telecoms regulator, the Office of the Director of Telecommunications
Regulation. The regulator said Eircom's wholesale rates for ADSL were too high,
and while both sides say they are determined to reach a resolution, for now
i-stream remains on ice.



This set-back has been compounded by the fact that neither of the country's major
cable companies, NTL and Chorus, have delivered on their plans to introduce
high-speed cable Internet access during 2001. 



There was a glimmer of good news in November when Esat said that it had been
allowed access to one of Eircom's exchanges in Limerick. According to Esat, it
now plans to offer an ADSL service in Galway, Cork and Limerick by March or April
of next year. It also said that it was in negotiations with Eircom to get into at
least 39 of the incumbent's exchanges placed around the country (but outside
Dublin) over the next 12 months.



And of course Ireland is now under pressure from the EU, along with many other
member states that have failed to roll-out sufficient infrastructure or to
introduce substantial competition in the market. In the waning weeks of 2001 the
EU said it would consider a lawsuit to force the issue. The European Commission
has also passed legislation which in many ways usurps the authority of national
regulators, but which may lead to a more open market for communications companies
to offer much needed broadband and flat-rate services here. 



These moves, in conjunction with the Communications Bill in Ireland that will
give the ODTR real power to enforce its decisions, may lead to a more fruitful
2002 in terms of Irish Internet access. 



But don't jump to any conclusions yet; the same promises were made for 2001.