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[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
Consumer group voices support for ComReg Ultimatum
Consumer group IrelandOffline today endorsed ComReg's latest ultimatum*
to eircom. The strong and blunt ComReg directive tells eircom to toe
the line and start facilitating Local Loop Unbundling** or face High
Court action and potential fines. This comes after eircom stubbornly
refused to attend a meeting with ComReg and other industry providers
last week.
John Timmons from IrelandOffline commented "Eircom has stated that the
public are talking down broadband yet they are the ones who are holding
it up. That the Regulator needs to threaten High Court action is
indicative of the contempt and disregard eircom holds for Ireland's
broadband rollout. As has been the case all along, eircom is once again
acting in an anti-competitive and monopolistic manner, attempting to
bully and brow-beating both the industry and regulator into accepting
that eircom has the divine right to be the dominant operator in
Ireland."
Damien Mulley, Chairman of IrelandOffline outlined his group's backing
of ComReg. "We fully support this strong move from ComReg to remedy the
serious LLU issues in Ireland. The compliance order from ComReg is
demonstrating to the consumer that the regulator is now willing to go
as far as is necessary to give everyone a better chance of availing of
quality broadband for all."
Over recent months a more proactive attitude has been seen from ComReg,
which observers put down to a change in leadership and appointment of
an additional commissioner. ComReg has recently been forcing through
more competition in the mobile market and now it is tackling the local
loop part of broadband supply.
IrelandOffline has been consistently calling for a more transparent LLU
process citing examples where other telecoms companies have been unable
to avail of LLU due to the extortionate costs involved in obtaining
access and equipment space in eircom's exchanges.
John Timmons added "These are precisely the actions of a monopolist who
has for far too long held onto its unfair and dominant position with an
iron grip and continues, in spite of all the requirements of a modern
and open economy like 21st century Ireland, to hinder progress at every
turn. These recent actions by eircom have demonstrated beyond doubt
that it can no longer be trusted to act in the country's best
interests."
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NOTES:
*Comreg Statement:
http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/PR020205.pdf
** Local Loop Unbundling is the process whereby operators competing
with eircom can gain access to and control of the telephone line
between the local telephone exchange servicing the customer and the
customer’s premises – commonly known as the last mile or local loop.
MEDIA CONTACTS
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Damien Mulley <chairman at irelandoffline.org>
Elana Kehoe <pr at irelandoffline.org>
If your enquiry is of an urgent nature, please talk to
John on 087 284 8079.
ABOUT IRELANDOFFLINE
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IrelandOffline is a voluntary organisation consisting of home and
business Internet users unhappy with currently available Internet
connectivity products and services. Its brief is to campaign for the
development of flat-rate and high-speed Internet access services and to
promote innovation and competition in the Irish Internet marketplace.
The group currently represents over 2300 Internet users.
For more information on the organisation, please visit the
IrelandOffline website at http://irelandoffline.org/