Communications regulator ComReg says it has reached agreement with Ireland's top telco Eircom on all the main issues which were holding up the development of local loop unbundling (LLU). LLU refers to the opening up of Eircom's residential network to rivals.
The regulator said Eircom had agreed to implement the agreed measures by the end of September.
Eircom has agreed to new systems which will allow rival operators to move customers more easily to their own broadband packages. It will also provide a standard service level agreement which should meet the needs of other operators. Rival companies had complained that the guaranteed levels of service offered by Eircom were too low.
Commenting on ComReg’s latest status report issued on Thursday, Rex Comb Eircom CEO said, “These announcements are the result of active and ongoing discussions with the Regulator. I believe that a satisfactory outcome has been achieved for all interested parties on the outstanding issues of LLU. This agreement, together with Eircom’s other investment commitments made during the past nine months, demonstrates the real momentum behind broadband in Ireland. Efforts must now focus to ensure that Ireland not only catches up with the rest of Europe for broadband take-up, but is also well positioned for the future.”
Eircom says that Thursday’s announcement are the continuation in a series of developments by it since last August to boost broadband in Ireland. These include:
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An announced €1billion investment in Irish telecommunications over the next three years. Eircom has already committed to:
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The enablement of an additional 419 exchanges that will result in 96% broadband availability.
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A €60m commitment to rollout a next generation core network (NGN).
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An acceptance of the third 3G licence .
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Increased broadband demand that has almost doubled the number of customers signing up each week.
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Expanded Local Loop services available in Ireland through:
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Inter-operator migrations that allow customers to move freely between broadband providers including Eircom from the end of this month.
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Intra-operator migrations that allow operators to move customers between different wholesale access products.
Speaking about the development, chairman of the industry lobby group IrelandOffline Damien Mulley stated: "This is a very positive move from ComReg and we congratulate them on their very hard work to achieve this. ComReg made large in-roads to make LLU workable in the past 12 months and the latest news is the most significant so far. This resolution is a major boost for broadband in Ireland."
Mulley added: "Many of the operators have been waiting for this good news for years. Now that it has happened we hope that they start to make the broadband market more competitive. The ball is now firmly in the court of the alternative providers and it is now up to them to give the public more choice and better value for money."
