They privatised BT, France Télécom, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica, Sonera etc. successfully. I’m not saying everything should be privatised (railways, roads etc.), just that privatising telecoms can be, and has been done successfully elsewhere.

I’m not even saying that those companies wouldn’t have been better off in the hands of the State (though I doubt it). Just that they were all privatised and they didn’t descend into oblivion the way eircom has.

I’m not always a fan of privatisation but have seen success stories elsewhere as noted. Sure look at Dublin’s ridiculous transport arrangements for Xmas and New Year with the expensive Dublin Bus. In Manchester I could have a choice of getting on the ‘Magic Bus’ for example instead of Statecoach and pay much less with extra services available and throughout the night and every night.

@Ger . This country is too small for successful privatisation we are a minnow and minnows are usually eaten.

Declan, as Ger has pointed out it is perfectly possible to privatise a former semi state body successfully and has been done countless times around the world, Ireland however does seem to be particularly poor at doing so. FF privatisation of Eircom is probably a text book example of how now to do it.

Bertie & Co privatised Eircom in such a manner that the companies destiny was almost foretold. they bought of the unions (via ESOT), did little to ensure that eircom would ensure its future in an ever changing environment, fleeced the public with the stock floatation and via poor over sight allowed the company to be flipped repeatedly by speculators who funded their acquisitions via debt leverage.

thanks to a combination of stupidity, greed and gombeen political strokes eircom has gone from being one of the best telco’s in europe to the worst. Ultimately it will fail completely, the question will be what will happen to the infrastructure as that is a key piece of infrastructure that the country cannot function without.

Guys you seriously dont have a clue when you say it can be done successful ly privatising key infrastructure. I seriiusly hope guys like you never have the power to do that. It is stupid thinking like that makes me wonder how the hell we are not in the dark ages here.

Privatisation only works if you have a regulator that has teeth and is willing and able to use them. The problem with eircom is that they’ve traditionally had retired ministers on their board and that’s acted as a political cushion that stops the regulator being given any real power. Remember what a disaster the privatisation of the rail system in the UK was? It led to the board bleeding the company dry to please the shareholders instead of investing some of the profits in repairing the infrastructure and, in turn, led to some major rail accidents. The same went for when they privatised the UK’s water. It became a cashcow for shareholders and the water rates went up and up and Thames Water, for example, only started repairing their leaking pipes when they were fined £50,000000 by the regulator and told they’d be fined again if they didn’t repair them asap.

I hear their gonna do tv too.
But I don’t know of anyone who uses eircom.
Broadband is useless.do people still have house phones?

A few inaccuracies there tom.

eircom line rental (wholesale, LLU, retail) fees are set by ComReg using a cost-based basis that is quite favourable to eircom. Other EU regulators use a basis that ignores the cost (so incumbent telcos can’t charge whatever they want). By definition, the rental is not at a loss.

Competing telcos do invest. The investment is by way of them paying line rental. True, they do very little, but they invest a good bit in their own (backhaul, rather than access) networks. No ISP in Ireland is laughing all the way to the bank. UPC might be in a comfortable position in the near future, but that’s about it.

If eircom folds, a receiver will be appointed, who will keep the access & core networks running (so as to sell as a going concern, and to continue to get money in the door), so services will continue.

eircom, since going public, has been riddled with people trying to make a quick buck (from private owners to the ESOT). Owners/ESOT chose to grab the cash, instead of investing in the future (hence being Paddy-last when it came to proper ISDN, DSL and FTTC ). Cutting corners (like using poor-grade aluminium cabling, as little as possible trunk cabling to new developments and line splitters all over the place; rural and urban), were deliberate decisions designed for short-term reward. eircom and “investing” are two terms that don’t belong together. They’ve patched up and done, literally, as little as possible for decades; all to give more cash to major shareholders. So their plight is entirely of their own, deliberate and calculated, doing.

The only telco lapping up any cream is UPC, and they are in no way dependent on eircom. All the other wired-based) ISPs are playing the numbers game (with very tight margins), and can’t even smell cream.

@Tom. You really don’t have a clue do you??
“Eircom are forced to rent out the lines at below cost”
What a laugh……
A basic line to your house is charged at 20.96 ex vat every month.
Out of this the other supplier gets €2.10 cents, Eircom keeps the rest…€18.86 !!
Hardly enought for the other suppliers. to “laugh all the way to the bank”.
Out of this measly amount the other providers have to pay staff to chase Eircom if a fault arises, which if you read the above article isn’t an easy job.

Same difference, no?