| There was another embarrassing leak from the government today, this time from eMinister Mary Hanafin’s office. The authenticity of the leaked document, the first and unedited draft of the Minister’s answer to the senders of our petition concerning Internet access in Ireland, cannot be proven with absolute certainty. Judging by the accuracy of the facts and dovetail identity with the mail that was actually sent out to hundreds of petitioners today, it seems likely to be genuine. But better judge for yourself. We publish the official Hanafin letter in black; the dovetail text of the leaked draft version is highlighted in red. |
| Dear <name supplied on email petition> I refer to your email regarding the pricing of internet access. I share your interest in having low-cost internet access in Ireland, both on the basis of dial-up access and through technologies such as DSL. The Government have put in place substantial funding under the National Development Plan to facilitate the rollout of broadband networks, including DSL, and substantial progress is being made as a result: Ireland is now the world leader in having the biggest amount of unlit fibre. Hundreds of millions have been successfully given to Eircom, although next to nothing has filtered through to the interface with the ordinary Internet user. So that was a bit daft really. Anyway now we will be building a new national fibre network with the help of the County Councils. That is bound to be a success. Eircom have already put in a tender to build that one, too. In addition the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation has played an important role in relation to the spectacularly unsuccessful unbundling of local loop facilities to enable the development of DSL on a competitive basis. As there is practically no relation between local loop unbundling and successful DSL development, shouldn’t we better take out this last sentence? Or is Joe Public too naïve to know? Competition among operators will help to bring prices down and improve quality of service eventually; unfortunately we cannot really allow competition yet, as our helplessly unproductive and overstaffed Eircom would not stand a chance if there was a level playing field. As regards dial-up access on a flat-rate basis, I am pleased to see interest among operators now in making available such a service. I understand that the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation is closely involved in the negotiations between Eircom and the other operators since a mere two years and the Director's powers under the Interconnection Regulations are available to her if needed. She can go so far as to slap a hefty 1500 euros fine on Eircom. I look forward to a successful conclusion to these negotiations and with any bit of luck and Eircom allowing, in the year 2003 Ireland could experience a real flat rate modem internet access offer at least as cheap as it was in Egypt five years ago. As regards your proposals that I set prices for FRIACO and DSL and prevent Eircom from offering retail services for a period, I do not have the power to take such steps, unlike the respective ministers/regulators of all the successful Internet countries. It is important to let Eircom have its way. Sorry, that should read to allow commercial negotiations among the operators to proceed to conclusion, facilitated as appropriate by the ODTR. The regulatory framework includes provisions (fines up to a staggering 1500 euros) aimed at preventing anti-competitive behaviour and the ODTR is in a position to apply the framework as it considers necessary in the interests of promoting competition and consumer benefit. Yours sincerely, Mary Hanafin T.D. Government Chief Whip Minister of State with irresponsibility for the Information Society |
| The Office of Mary Hanafin asked us to clarify the nature of the above document. We're happy to oblige by publishing their communication here: |
| Subject: For the immediate attention of Mr. Peter Weigl To: info@eircomtribunal.com From: Carl.Gibney@Taoiseach.Gov.IE Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 14:08:07 +0100 Dear Mr Weigl, I wish to draw your attention to inaccuracies as featured on the eircomtribunal.com website, of which you are coordinator. Contrary to what you have published on your website, Minister Hanafin yesterday intentionally issued a full response to the petitions she has received. The Minister's response was not a "leaked document", nor was it a "first draft", as you described it. The Minister's response was the only statement issued by her on this matter. I therefore ask you to immediately rectify this matter on the eircomtribunal.com website, with a full clarification. I would also appreciate a speedy acknowledgement to this email. Yours faithfully, Carl Gibney Office of Mary Hanafin T.D. Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach |