INTERNET
Ireland Offline says EUR30 is plenty
10-01-2003
by
Irish lobby group Ireland Offline said on Friday that Communications Minister Dermot Ahern must insist on a EUR30 monthly price cap for basic Internet access.
In a decision notice this week, the regulator ComReg set out a detailed timescale that will let operators purchase a wholesale Internet access product (FRIACO) from Eircom by the end of February 2003. This would mean operators could start offering retail packages to end users no later than the end of June 2003.
Ireland Offline welcomed this move, which will finally see the introduction of flat-rate more than a decade after the first popular Internet service providers set up in Ireland. But the group is anxious about pricing and said it will be "pointless" to introduce any flat-rate service of more than EUR30 a month.
The pressure group is calling for the cap to apply for a basic Internet connection only, not high-speed broadband. Ireland Offline Chairman David Long said he was concerned because the Minister had used the word "affordable" only in reference to broadband services when he delivered his draft Directive on Telecoms Regulation.
Long said it's critical that a lower-priced, lower-speed option be available to Irish Internet users, including budget-conscious families and businesses. Such a service would let users connect to the Internet over a dial-up connection and stay connected all day for a set price.
"Even EUR30 per month would be high by European standards," Long said. "Market research shows that a more expensive flat rate product will not be taken up by those who could benefit most from this sort of product - students, carers, those with disabilities, families with children. Unless the flat rate offering is affordable most Irish citizens won't really embrace the Internet."
Indeed, entrant telecommunications companies in Ireland have also suggested that a high price for any FRIACO service would not be satisfactory. Esat BT, one of two Irish telecoms that has formally expressed interest in selling flat rate Internet services, told ElectricNews.Net this week that it is aiming to price its consumer product between EUR25 and EUR30 per month
ComReg does have the power to impose wholesale price caps on Eircom. "We asked Eircom to come back to us with a reference interconnect offer (for FRIACO), and we will examine this and ensure that the wholesale price will be cost orientated," said Deirdre Healy, public affairs manager for ComReg.
The regulator memorably attempted to set prices for Eircom in 2001 in regards to unbundling of the local loop. This ended in months of legal battles with Eircom that delayed the introduction of broadband services using ADSL technology. Since then however the regulator has been transformed from the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation into ComReg, a body that has greater powers of enforcement, including the ability to fine Eircom up to 10 percent of its turnover if it is found to be in breach.
While Ireland Offline's main aim is to insure that an affordable basic Internet service is introduced, it also supports the introduction of broadband around Ireland. The group called the Minister's instructions to ComReg "wishy washy" in terms of broadband rollout deadlines for Ireland.
Ireland Offline wants the Minister to insist on a report within three months with "specific, substantial regulatory measures and timescales" to meet Ireland's stated objective of broadband access, including the introduction of any legislation that will be required. The lobby group's full response to the draft Directive on Telecoms Regulation is available at its Web site.
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