About us…

IrelandOffline is a voluntary organisation campaigning for universal high-speed broadband for all

Opinion

Is Mobile “midband” in Ireland Destroying broadband Infrastructure?

What is the problem? There is an explosion in products claiming to be “broadband”, in fact many of these are mobile “midband” products. IrelandOffline examine some of the consequences of this explosion in these products. The term midband is used to describe these products as opposed to broadband as these products are really dial up substitutes and the  speeds delivered can be so variable as to make the claims of broadband less than accurate. Furthermore the headline broadband speeds quoted are the full total of “speeds” delivered from the transmitter, this bandwidth is shared amongst all users of the sector....

Opinion

Examining the Broadband excuse machine

In this piece we examine the most common excuses trotted out as to why Ireland is not a world leader in the Broadband stakes. We are constantly reminded that Ireland is an e-knowledge economy, the e-hub of Europe. We examine these issues from the perspective of broadband. Facts Throughout the last last few years, we have had numerous reports  on the state of broadband in Ireland. These have included an Oireachtas report, numerous Forfas reports, reports from An Taoiseach’s Office and many others. However with all these reports available and recommendations made, nothing seems to get done.We have a lot...

News

Further Input to Consultation Document No. 09/39 on Local Loop Unbundling (‘LLU’) and Sub Loop Unbundling (‘SLU’) Monthly Rental Charges

In response to: http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0962.pdf Comreg Note “In Consultation Document No. 09/39, ComReg expressed the preliminary view that 1,600 lines represented a highly conservative point at which to draw the boundary between those exchanges that are considered viable for unbundling during the control period (large exchanges) and those that are not (small exchanges). ComReg now believes that a threshold of exchanges containing at least 2,500 lines is appropriate because: In operator responses to Consultation Document No. 09/39, the majority of operators believed that a cut-off of 1,600 lines was inappropriately low. A number of the operators indicated that the cut-off point...

News

LLU announcement – too little too late

LLU announcement “too little too late” IrelandOffline today welcomed the European Commission’s approval for a price reduction of 25% in the prices eircom can charge for LLU (local loop unbundling). IrelandOffline also agree that “Broadband competition in Ireland is currently being held up by the high access prices Eircom charges” as mentioned by EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding. Commenting on the announcement Ireland Offlline spokesperson Eamonn Wallace said ” The LLU process is now TEN whole years under (in)active consideration in Ireland.[1] The first consultation on LLU in Ireland was started 10 years ago”[2] This announcement may be too late...