STT Communications | FEATURE
“Any compAny
plAnning A return
would hAve to do
so over yeArs; it’s
not About mAking
A quick buck.”
– clAire cunninghAm
Gary Jordan, SME Channel Manager, UPC.
THE BLAME GAME
Government also share a good deal of blame. “They’ve shown a strange reluctance to lead on the issue,” says Kellett. “There’s a substantial amount of state-owned fibre deployed in the ground which isn’t being used today. There is fibre along the new road networks, fibre wrapped around ESB electricity cables; CIE even have fibre running alongside the majority of train lines. The Government MANs [Metropolitan Area Networks] involve circles of fibre around towns but none of this is connected into a national network. We realised that the Government was sitting on its hands, so we spent €115 million investing in next generation technology. We deployed our own fibre to Eircom exchanges, took over their exchanges, and put in our own servers. We also put our own fibre in the ground, mainly in new estates and business parks. We have about 12,000 homes that have fibre in them. Those consumers can benefit from up to one gigabyte of broadband speed. They’re future-proofed for the next 20 years.”
Claire Cunningham also maintains that co- ordination is at the core of the issue. “Part of the problem is that there hasn’t always been a cohesive policy,” she says. “There are different departments dealing with different areas. There hasn’t always been joined up thinking in relation to this issue. We would like to see more government investment. It is clear that they are going to have to work with the existing providers; I don’t think government can develop a strategy by themselves. We still need a clear- cut policy, however. But that is easier said than done and it will require that all the operators to work together.”
DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE MISSING
Gary Jordan, SME Channel Manager at UPC is equally frustrated with the inertia to the problem at State level, especially when he says a solution can be delivered. “I have seen an outcry for the availability throughout Ireland not just for broadband services, but for a high quality dependable broadband service,” he says. “It’s no secret that we’re dead last in the developed world when it comes to providing consumers and businesses with adequate broadband technology. When I got here three years ago from the US, we were struggling to deliver 2mb speeds. We might be up to 8mb by the end of this year but it still doesn’t go far enough. UPC is invested in many countries around the world. 120mb is available in the Netherlands, for example. Not everybody is going to use 120mb and not everybody will know what to do with 120mb broadband, but the reality is that it is available. Unfortunately in Ireland we struggle to provide that to businesses. The question is why did the regulators not allow more companies enter the broadband market?” “The Government and ComReg need to pay very serious attention to different methods of delivering broadband. We can deliver broadband via microwave to 90 per cent of the entire population but we can’t get a license from ComReg to do it. That’s mind boggling to me. If we’ve got the tried and tested capability to deliver the service then why not let us do it? Sometimes it feels like we in the industry are hitting our heads off brick walls.”
On the positive side there is some new hope
that STT might have a bit more long-term commitment to the company than previous investors, and that an overhaul of the company might give the next generation broadband some genuine momentum. The launch is March is hopefully the first step. “There’s an obvious need to shake that organisation to its core,” says Mark Kellett. “The only way it can become truly successful is if it invests in the next generation
technology on a national basis. It can’t see a return on investment as a two or three year event, it should see it as a seven to ten year event. That said, there seems to be some recognition from both STT and Paul Donovan [CEO of Eircom] that they can’t continue operating the way they have been operating. If Eircom gets its act together, ultimately that is good for the country and the whole industry.”
LONG-TERM PLAN
Claire Cunningham is also cautiously optimistic about the new regime. “Could STT transform the network?” she asks. “Well, if they’re truly in it for the long haul there’s an opportunity for them to work with the Government to develop a national next generation network policy. It is a very expensive thing to do, so we really hope that there will be a long-term plan to invest in Eircom and the services it provides. There will not be an immediate return in the cost of developing fibre in this country, so any company planning a return would have to do so over years; it’s not about making a quick buck. STT work in telecoms around the world so they must know that it’s the only way forward.” According to senior management at Eircom, they won’t be going anywhere any time soon. “STT have stated that they are here for the long haul,” says Pat Galvin, Head of Public Policy at Eircom. “We do have a vision of a fibre world but that’s bigger than just Eircom. There needs to be cooperation and coordination in addressing future access network fibre infrastructure, which is an area where we are considering different options. While we have significantly advanced our Next Generation Broadband core network, we are still considering how to meet the challenge of widespread development of fibre in the access network.”
Mark Kellet, Managing Director, Magnet.
InBusiness May 10 39
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