The broadband lobbying group IrelandOffline announced this week it will wind down. RTÉ.ie asked ten questions of its Chairman Damien Mulley.
RTÉ: Why did IrelandOffline decide to wind down now?
Damien Mulley: The current committee has been at the helm for the past three years and it's been quite a rollercoaster ride mostly and we need to take some time out and get new people on board. Unfortunately we don't seem to be able to get people who have enough time to devote to the group. We've been trying for a while to get people to help out but have had no luck.
We might have kept going for another few months, but some welcome things have happened in the past while which makes us think that finishing up now would be an OK thing to do.
They are:
1) Eircom are a different company to the one from just a year ago and now seem to want to give people broadband and as many people as possible.
2) The issue with local loop unbundling is also being addressed so competitors can access the Eircom network and offer services.
3) The announcement of a National Broadband Tender will means tens of thousands more people will have the chance to get broadband.
All good things, though the broadband tender is slightly flawed leaving thousands still going without, but we think this can be fixed once they see the issue.
RTÉ: What were IrelandOffline's biggest accomplishments?
DM: I guess it is very hard to show anything tangible, but I do think our constant hammering of ComReg and Eircom about broadband line test failures got addressed when Eircom changed their tests at least twice in the past year, lowering the criteria so 100,000 more lines were passing the test.
The Group Broadband Scheme was, I think, created as a result of IrelandOffline presenting the idea to the Government. The DCMNR cancelled it in the end and cited a bogus reason, saying there was no interest, but I think dozens of communities got broadband to their area as a result of this scheme and it inspired other communities to try the same.
The last area we were very good at is getting attention to the area of telecoms, from line failures, to comparisons of the cost of telecoms in Ireland to the rest of Europe to getting broadband availability on the national agenda.
RTÉ: What remains to be done?
DM: The great news about broadband speeds increasing and prices coming down must really get to the 25% of the population that cannot get broadband. It is shocking to realise those on dialup and ISDN are probably paying as much as five times more as those on broadband for 1/20th to 1/50th of the speed.
While they are waiting for broadband to come to their area, they should be given some respite with better flatrate dialup or ISDN at a much cheaper price.
ComReg have the ability to re-examine the price of this, but so far have not looked at this area even when we brought it to their attention.
This brings me on to the next area that needs reform and that is of the regulator themselves. It is deeply disappointing that ComReg got publicly rebuked by an EU Commssioner this week for their lack of drive or ambition to make the Irish telecoms market more competitive.
Some of the greatest battles IrelandOffline had were with the regulator and their attitude towards consumer issues. This should never have happened, we should have been their cheerleaders, not their public conscience.
I think to keep the telecoms market moving in the right direction, more oversight of ComReg is needed and the next Minister needs to intercede more and not point out that the regulator is not their concern.
RTÉ: What will happen if Ireland does not accomplish these things?
DM: I think the main change we'll see over the next few years in Ireland is manufacturing jobs will leave the country and go to Eastern Europe and Asia. There's been so much talk about high quality and 'knowledge economy' jobs, but all these need worldwide connectivity and Ireland is still quite poor for broadband provision.
Until we reach 100%, other economies with better Internet access will have a competitive advantage.
RTÉ: Realistically, how soon will Ireland have penetration parity with the rest of Europe?
DM: Eircom and the Minister were saying the end of the year, but I think it might be a little later than that.
We'll certainly start moving up the rankings this year - for the first time ever - and we may reach close enough to the EU average for penetration, but we should be looking at the top of the table realistically and that is years away.
Of course we should also think about the quality too. We might be at the EU average soon enough for penetration levels, but by then our basic broadband speeds will be fractions of what the rest of Europe has.
Even the new National Broadband Tender is asking for a 1mb speed which will be locked in for 5 years. Stockholm will soon have 100mb speed as their standard.
Again, we need to be future looking, not settling for yesterday's technology getting delivered next year.
RTÉ: You mentioned that there are some 'very progressive people' in the Department of Communications, ComReg and many of the telecom firms. Care to mention anyone in particular?
DM: I won't name names as people in there prefer to stay out of the spotlight, but it is obvious there are shining stars amongst all the stakeholders who have to deal with others in their own organisations who prefer the status quo and resist any kind of changes.
Every now and then, you can see their influence when something positive and surprising is done by one of these groups.
RTÉ: We noticed that you submitted some questions for our web-only debate during the election campaign. Who do you think won that debate and who would you like to see as the next Communications Minister?
DM: To be all politically correct or spineless maybe! I'm not sure there was a winner to that debate.
I did some reviews on my own site of the broadband manifestos of the parties and I found that the Labour party and Green party's manifestos were the most forward thinking of all of them.
The FG manifesto and the general attitude to broadband and communications was less than stellar.
Fianna Fail's manifesto of course had to say nothing new was needed because they did so well already.
I don't mind who is Minister, but I would like to see that person commit to the last Oireachtas Recommendations on Broadband.
RTÉ: What will you be doing instead of Ireland Offline?
DM: We'll all be concentrating on our day jobs and enjoying the extra free time in the evenings. I need to concentrate on the Law degree I've been neglecting, but I'm working with a few others to organise a showcase event for Irish Technology startups in September, as well as working on the Irish Politics site PoliticsInIreland.com
RTÉ: How did IrelandOffline get started?
DM: In early May 2001, the internet service provider Esat discontinued provision to 2000 users of its 'IOL Surf No Limits' internet access package - a flat rate package - for what it deemed 'excessive usage' of the service.
People were angry and annoyed and eventually formed a consumer lobby group to represent people and highlight the poor state of Internet access in Ireland.
RTÉ: What was your biggest challenge over the years?
DM: I think the biggest challenge was getting our voice heard and then getting the issues we campaigned for recognised as being important.
It took a while, but we built up a good relationship with most of the stakeholders even when we differed widely on our viewpoints and I think we built up a good trust with the press who helped distribute what we were campaigning for.
Damien Mulley is a technical writer from Cork and Chairman of IrelandOffline for past three years. Organiser of the Irish Blog Awards and writes about technology for the Sunday Tribune.
