Eircom 'not on broadband target'

Lobby group Ireland Offline has drawn attention to eircom’s slow progress in meeting its target of 500,000 broadband connections by December 2007.

First-quarter results released by eircom today said the company had 156,000 retail and wholesale customers as of August 18, compared with 150,000 on July 25.

Spokesman John Timmons said: "The current rate of new customer signups is approximately 1,750 per week.

“At this rate, eircom will not reach their self-set target of 500,000 broadband customers until mid-2009.

“This is a prime example of eircom's failure to provide widespread broadband availability at a price that people are willing to pay, and this strategy is shooting eircom, and Ireland, in the foot".