Eircom

BT has now discontinued this scheme, and is moving to upgrade all remaining exchanges in the UK to ADSL during 2005, (including Northern Ireland, which has the highest number of exchanges upgraded to broadband in the UK). He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. Copying a similar scheme to that used by BT in the UK, they have introduced a trigger scheme for DSL enabling their smaller exchanges based on numbers of users committing to sign-up for service. His tenure as coach was nowhere near as successful as his playing career, and he resigned following the 1994 season with a 202-345 record. They have stated that their strategy is to strongly grow broadband user numbers and re-enter the mobile market. Hired by the Bullets as a vice president after his retirement, Unseld was made coach in 1987. eircom predict 100,000 DSL connection by year end 2004 and promise to announce ambitious further growth targets in 2005. He took the Baltimore (and after a move, the Washington) Bullets to four NBA finals, and won the championship in 1978 over the Seattle Supersonics.

After a slow start broadband subscriber numbers started to pick up in 2004 when eircom cut the price for the basic DSL service and launched an intensive television advertising campaign. Famed for his rebounding and bone-jarring picks, Unseld made up for his lack of size (6’6”) with brute strength and sheer determination. Eircom's line rental costs have increased over the years, now standing at €24.18 per month - the highest such charge in the EU. He became only the second person ever to win both Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season (Wilt Chamberlain being the first). Some consider this act to be asset stripping by the large investors with interests in eircom. Unseld played center for the University of Louisville and was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Bullets in 1968. After the privatisation of eircom, the highly profitable mobile phone division, Eircell, was sold to Vodafone. Westley Sissel "Wes" Unseld (born March 14, 1946 in Louisville, Kentucky) is a former basketball player and coach in the NBA.

eircom's corporate structure has also been subject to criticism in recent years, with accusations of poor management and overstaffing levelled at it. This technology, which is not available in all areas is an alternative, albeit expensive option, in some areas where broadband is not available and ISDN is. Before eircom announced ADSL it started a telemarketing campaign aimed at customers who spent large amounts of time on dial-up connections to persuade them to subscribe to ISDN - an old inferior technology. Penalities on any extra time spent online mean that a mere 12 hours extra per month (charged at 4c per minute) will result in a bill of around €50 (these charges are on top of the €24.18 line rental), though this product is targeted at lower end users.

In June 2005 a new product was offered, offering time-limited broadband of 20 hours per month for €24.99 (introductory offer, €19.99). Some of eircom's DSL packages and offers have been widely criticised. Only 60% of the population are located in the urban areas where broadband is available [4], and of these, only 75% qualify due to faulty lines (Eircom has no obligation to provide lines good enough for anything other than some level of voice communication). It has been suggested that this is more to ensure that politicians, local community groups and the public at large feel that Ireland is being connected, rather than advertise available services (A large part of the population cannot take up the broadband deals).

As of 2004, eircom's PR division runs near-daily advertisements for broadband connections on national media. Ireland continues to lag behind in terms of broadband availability, with the fifth lowest broadband penetration in the EU25 at 3% of population [3] (OECD, Dec 2004), and the lowest in Western Europe. Although it is not yet possible for other operators such as BT Ireland to buy the lines from eircom and charge their own line rental should they wish. However, under a wholesale line rental scheme, it is now possible for customers, to have a single bill from an alternative provider, for example, BT Ireland, including the cost of Eircom line rental, rather than continuing to receive a separate one from eircom for this cost.

Introduced in Ireland in 2001, CPS allows subscribers to use an alternative provider for all their calls, without the need to dial indirect access codes or numbers, although they still receive a bill from eircom for line rental. While eircom retains a virtual monopoly, at around 80%, on fixed line telephony in the State (the only exception being those operated by cable company NTL - Chorus previously offered wireless telephony but failed to renew their licence) it is required to allow carrier pre-selection (CPS). [2]. Eircom announced the successful purchase on 25 July 2005 at a cost of €420m.

On 21 July it was announced that Smart Telecom had also withdrawn, leaving eircom as the sole bidder. On 14 July 2005, RTÉ News reported on their business website that Denis O'Brien had withdrawn from bidding, and that it was understood that eircom was the top bidder at €410m. On 9 July 2005 it was reported by The Irish Times that there had been three bidders for Meteor: eircom, Smart Telecom, and a consortium led by Denis O'Brien. It was considered that this afforded eircom an opportunity to re-enter the mobile communications market.

In early 2005, several Irish newspapers reported that Meteor Mobile Communications, the third mobile phone operator, was up for sale by its owners, Western Wireless. The company floated at €1.55 a share, but dipped on initial trading before recovering to trade above its float price. On 19 March 2004 the company returned to the stock market (although the company being listed, eircom Group plc, was in fact a new holding company, and was registered in England and Wales rather than the Republic of Ireland). However eircom did not remain a private company.

eircom plc was delisted from the stock exchange, become eircom Limited, a private limited company by shares and a subsidary of Valentia. Eventually in June 2001 the company agreed a recommended offer of €1.27 per eircom share. After the demerger of Eircell, eircom itself was believed to be undervalued and became the subject of a bidding war between two consortia - the E-Island consortium headed by Denis O'Brien, and the Valentia Consortium headed by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, the chairman of Independent News and Media. This left the eircom shareholder with not only shares in eircom, but Vodafone also.

The company was transfered to a separate entity, Eircell 2000 plc which was then sold to Vodafone via a share swop. In 2001, eircom disposed of its mobile arm Eircell to Vodafone. This may have been a factor in Mary O'Rourke, the then Minister for Public Enterprise losing her seat in the general election. Many of the 500,000 small investors were angered by the significant financial loss they incurred, blaming the government for not sufficiently warning them of the risks inherent in stock market investment.

The eircom flotation is considered to have been an example of a stock market bubble - after the initial hype of the flotation died down, the stock price fell rapidly. eircom plc was then floated on the Irish Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and New York Stock Exchange s on July 8, 1999 and small/first-time investors were encouraged by the Irish Government to buy shares. Due to EU laws requiring the opening up of the Irish telecommunications market, eircom was privatised, a process which began in 1995, and by July 1999 the government had disposed of virtually all of its shareholding [1]. For details of the company during its time as a state-sponsored body, see the Telecom Éireann article.

This article deals mainly with the post-privatisation eircom. The company was formed in 1984 as Bord Telecom Éireann, under Posts and Telecommunications Act 1983. See the criticism section below for more details. eircom has been subject to much criticism in the performance of its activities.

Many broadband products offered by other operators are resales of the eircom product. As an operator with significant market power, eircom is required to provide a number of wholesale products to other operators and to switch calls onto other phone networks. eircom Phonewatch provides burglar alarm and home monitoring services. Their ISP division, eircom net, provides dial-up services, as well as broadband (see broadband roll-out, below) services.

A full range of telecommunications services is provided on the network. Most homes and businesses in the state are connected by his network. eircom operate the largest fixed-line telecommunications network in the Republic of Ireland, under licence from the Commission for Communications Regulation. .

eircom now has a 44% share of the Irish telecoms market. It is now run by Vodafone. An analogue TACS and a digital GSM 900 network operation in Ireland, started as Eircell, was once owned by eircom. eircom currently operates the fixed-line telephone network, act as an internet service provider (ISP) eircom.net, and operate a property alarm installation and montioring unit called eircom Phonewatch.

As Bord Telecom Éireann plc, the company was (until 1999) a state monopoly; as a private company it continues to dominate many telecommunications areas, its main competitor being BT Ireland (formerly Esat BT), although this is accessed via eircom's network. eircom Group plc is the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland.
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