News

ComReg dodges the question(s) on spectrum auctions and 4G rollout We read with much mirth and bemusement Comreg’s “answers” to simple questions posed by SiliconRepublic. (1) The so-called answers are worthy of an episode of “Yes Minister”. Not a single simple question was, in fact, actually answered. What is most telling from their copy and pasted response is what was actually left out. In a copy and pasted and overly long and verbose response to what are perfectly reasonable questions they cannot say: whether the auction and bidding has started yet what they are doing to expedite the delay in...

Comreg – terminate this Secretive auction process now! Comreg have run a veritable cornucopia of consultations, even by their tortuous standards, on how to conduct the largest spectrum auction (the 4G auction) in Irish history during 2012. In between strange micro-eruptions of “Fantasy Cricket” leagues in Comreg and consultations that were strangely detached from the answers they received in immediately preceding consultations, they eventually finalised the process in June and launched their spectrum auction in July. But by the time Comreg started the auction a fatal flaw was evident. They were not auctioning spectrum in a competitive environment, they were...

Finally some good news but a lot yet to be done Finally, after waiting for many years, there have been some serially positive announcements on advanced Broadband over the past few months.While this is good news for urban areas, these announcements will make little impact on the dire broadband situation around the rest of the country where most consumers are stuck on 3Mb/s “broadband” or simply cannot get any form of broadband. We warmly welcome all of these initiatives to roll out high capacity Broadband, particularly those from UPC and the ESB  and look forward to Ireland being in the...

Minister Rabbitte’s Broadband Targets First of all we in IrelandOffline welcome the broad intent of the Cabinet which is to implement the EU Digital Agenda, requiring 30 mbits minimum speeds for all by 2016. We are in full agreement with the sentiments expressed in the document, broadband is indeed the Rural Electrification project of the 21st century and needs to be treated with the same commitment as that scheme was. The World Bank and the OECD agree on this point. However, as has always been the case with the Department of Communications, the first procurement by Minister Rabbitte’s department will...

Ireland’s position in the broadband stakes deteriorates yet again.Ireland is now at its lowest ever position in the Global Table for Download Speeds and also for Upload Speeds. Ireland dropped five places to 56th position in the World for download speeds. Bandwidth in Ireland, the self proclaimed “Internet Capital of Europe”, costs 188% of the average EU cost and 238% of the Median EU Cost. These figures were 184% and 211% in Q1 2012. Bandwidth costs are rising relative to our European peers with a 10% cost hike relative to the  Median EU Cost in this quarter alone. Ireland relies...