Broadband take-up poor

IRELAND has come near the bottom of the class in the latest survey of broadband internet penetration.

According to ComReg latest figures, which cover the three months to the end of March, there were 152,000 broadband connections, equivalent to 3% of the population and well behind the take-up rate in many other EU countries.

Although the figures indicate that the number of broadband connections was rising at a quick pace, there were claims yesterday that Ireland will not meet its target of 400,000 subscribers by 2006.

The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators (ALTO) claimed the poor performance was due to Eircom’s “stranglehold” on the local loop, which links home and businesses to the telephone exchange.

ALTO said it was vital that Eircom allowed other telecommunications companies access to the local loop at a reasonable price to give competitors a chance.

“Yet again it is consumers who are suffering from the lack of competition. The latest report shows that Ireland is the most expensive European country for line rental, approximately 60% above the average. It also shows Ireland three places above average for the price of broadband,” ALTO chairman Tom Hickey said.

“We will never increase the uptake of broadband while this situation is allowed to continue.”

Yesterday’s ComReg report also showed that mobile phone penetration in Ireland has risen to 3.86 million, or 96% of the population. However, the survey shows that compared to other EU countries, mobile penetration is relatively low with many people owning more than one phone.

It showed that Meteor, which is up for sale, is gaining customers from its two rivals Vodafone and O2. At the end of March, Meteor had a 9.8% share of the mobile market, up from 9.4% at the end of December.

Vodafone retains it position as the largest operator with a 50.5% share, while O2 has 39.7% of the market. Around 97% of Meteor’s customer base are pre-paid subscribers compared to 75% at Vodafone.

The report shows that mobile phone users sent a total of 355 million text messages in the quarter.

Overall spending on telecommunications between January and March was €1.4 billion, up 1% from the previous quarter and 9% ahead of the figure a year ago.