Investment in the Republic's broadband infrastructure has been stymied by a short-term drive for profit, one of the authors of an Oireachtas report into high-speed internet access has said.
There is a fear that Eircom has become a "cash-cow" to be milked until dry, said Green Party TD Mr Eamon Ryan, adding that Eircom's double stock market flotation had been seen as "sucking the marrow from the bone" and leaving the firm too heavily focused on the fixed-line phone market.
His criticism of Eircom's strategy came as the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources presented its broadband report at the Digital Hub in Dublin.
Its recommendations include the appointment of a Minister of State with responsibility for broadband and the development of a national strategy on the issue this year. The report adds that all national, regional, county and city development plans should include provision for broadband.
It advocates a "carrot and stick" strategy to encourage Eircom and its competitors to widen access to broadband.
Players who refused to let rivals buy space on their networks could find themselves usurped by duplicate infrastructure, said Mr Ryan.
He said: "The 'carrot' in this instance would be the promise that duplicating networks would not be built if the operator's backhaul network was opened to other providers." The committee was convinced that commercial forces alone would not deliver adequate broadband coverage, said Mr Simon Coveney, the Fine Gael TD.
"Government needs to get involved in a serious way. A purely market-driven approach will not deliver an adequate choice at an affordable price," he said. The report warned that telecoms regulator ComReg should not be dissuaded from its duties by the threat of legal action from the private or public sector.
The Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, welcomed the report. He said there had been major spending on introducing broadband throughout the State and competition was forcing a significant cut in pricing.
Eircom welcomed the tone of the report but said broadband's quickening take-up in the State meant its conclusions were rapidly becoming outdated.
The firm said there were 42,000 broadband subscribers in the Republic, and this would to reach 100,000 by end 2004. High-speed internet access would be essential for the economy to become more competitive, committee vice-chairman Senator Michael Finucane said.
"As the Irish economy develops to being a knowledge economy, the ability to access, transfer, interpret and apply information and knowledge will be key and, in such an economy, broadband is the crucial enabling technology," he said.
