A spate of acquisitions in the Irish telecoms market will lead to a significant increase in competition and cost reductions for the consumer, says Tommy McCabe, Director of the Telecommunications and Internet Federation.
Mr McCabe made his comments on the launch of a new report, which details the impact of investment in telecoms on the Irish economy and analyses the changes liberalisation has made to the market over the past ten years.
'The proposed acquisition of Meteor by Eircom as well as the recent announcement of the O2/Telefonica deal will have a considerable impact on competition on the Irish market,' said Mr McCabe.
He added that the broadband market will also heat up as a result of the proposed Chorus/NTL merger.
TIF Chairman Dr George Young said that the telecommunications industry is now worth over €4 billion a year, representing 3.7% of Irish GNP. It directly employs over 14,000 people.
Increased competition in the telecoms market has seen a continuous decline in communications prices since market liberalisation, he adds.
