Fergus Cassidy

A busy year

REVIEW OF 2004: THE year began with a hefty telephone line rental increase and the nation's airwaves were filled with vexed voices. Eircom returned to the same trough for the third time in thirteen months, but this time the anger burst through and served to focus on the reality of Irish telecommunications infrastructure.

It was to be another year of reports and committees on broadband, with most of them coming to the same sorry conclusion.

February saw green shoots of hope that something besides compiling reports could be done and the first group broadband scheme was launched in Knockmore, county Mayo. Christian Cooke, then chairman of IrelandOffline, echoed the enthusiasm I witnessed when visiting the area. He said that "do-it-yourself community broadband can be done. It's definitely viable."

The government put aside Euro25m for Group Data Schemes and by the end of the year over 50 groups had lodged applications for funding. The Group Data Scheme Co-Operative Society was formed in June to help groups get off the ground.

More good news came in February as the ESB completed the roll-out of its national fibre optic installation. The network cost Euro50m and will act as a carrier's carrier, providing wholesale internet access.

In April, another piece of national infrastructure was put into place when e-net was awarded the contract to manage the Metropolitan Area Networks.

In the same month, the control of Ireland's domain name - .ie - was transferred to ComReg. Dermot Ahern, the communications minister, said that "the transfer of responsibility to an organisation such as ComReg will immeasurably strengthen the operations of the registry".

One of the biggest shocks of the year came at the end of April, when a commission appointed to examine the proposed electronic voting system issued a damning interim report.

The commission found itself "unable to recommend the use of the proposed system at the local and European elections and, by extension, at the referendum due to be held on 11 June".

Despite slurs and accusations of Luddism, the campaign by the Irish Citizens for Trustworthy Evoting set a standard for how the internet can be used to successfully educate and campaign.

We're not out of the woods yet though as the government has not ruled out using the system in future, most likely the European Constitution referendum.

The question of verifying votes remains undecided, but in its recently released first report, the Commission on Electronic Voting couldn't have been clearer.

"In our opinion, the most effective basis on which to establish the accuracy of the ballot is by way of a voter verified paper audit trail and the implementation of effective control procedures surrounding the Election Management System".

In June, a proposal to set up a compulsory registry of 3G phone owners was floated, citing concerns over harmful or illegal content. No decision has yet been taken on the matter.

In July, the annual general meeting of IrelandOffline took place in Athlone and confronted a crossroads of its own . The group decided not to disband and at an extraordinary general meeting in September, it chose a new committee and fresh resolve.

October brought a cabinet reshuffle and Noel Dempsey replaced Dermot Ahern as communications minister. Ahern played well when he came off the bench. He showed some nice moves before being called up for international duty.

In the same month, ComReg issued the findings of its consultation on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). A positive report, indicating that the convergence of the Plain Old Telephone System and the internet is fast approaching.

In November, there were indications that the Information Society Commission would cease to exist at the end of the year. Eircom joyfully announced that it had reached its 100,000 broadband subscriber target. Vodafone also announced the launch of its 3G network.

In December, EU justice and home affairs ministers continued to discuss a proposed data retention legislation, with Ireland a strong proponent. The European Internet Service Providers Association issued a warning: "Data retention is one of the most important issues ever faced by the internet services industry", adding that the measures could "devastate" the sector.

In December, ComReg found that mobile operators Vodafone and O2 had joint dominance of the mobile market and proposed opening the networks early next year. This issue could be headed for the courts.

Also in December, Isolde Goggins replaced John Doherty as chair of ComReg. Mike Byrne was also appointed to the vacant seat on the commission for a four-year term.

Thanks for reading in 2004.