Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
 RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Promoting Human Rights in IrelandHuman Rights in Ireland >>
The Faux-Radicalism of Kneecap Wed Apr 30, 2025 19:00 | Andrew Doyle
Kneecap's vocal support for Hamas and call for fans to murder Tory MPs is obviously reprehensible. But it's just for show, says Andrew Doyle. The police shouldn't waste their time investigating rappers.
The post The Faux-Radicalism of Kneecap appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Green Party Continues to Persecute Me for My Belief That Men Can?t Become Women Wed Apr 30, 2025 17:00 | Shahrar Ali
Dr Shahrar Ali was the Green Party justice spokesman when he was removed over his gender critical views. He won an unlawful discrimination claim in 2024. But the party then ejected him! He's now taking it to court again.
The post The Green Party Continues to Persecute Me for My Belief That Men Can’t Become Women appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Royal Marine Says Standards are ?Being Lowered? for Female Trainees and He Was Treated Like a Terror... Wed Apr 30, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
A Royal Marine has gone public with his concerns that standards are being lowered for female trainees, claiming lives could be at risk and that he was treated like a terrorist for raising his worries.
The post Royal Marine Says Standards are “Being Lowered” for Female Trainees and He Was Treated Like a Terrorist for Raising Concerns appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Met Officer Cleared of Murdering Gangster Chris Kaba Faces Sack for ?Gross Misconduct? Wed Apr 30, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Sgt Martyn Blake, the armed Metropolitan police officer who was cleared of murdering violent gangster Chris Kaba, now faces a gross misconduct disciplinary over the shooting and could be sacked.
The post Met Officer Cleared of Murdering Gangster Chris Kaba Faces Sack for “Gross Misconduct” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Pope Francis?s Liberalism is Not Why Young People Are Returning to Church Wed Apr 30, 2025 11:00 | Dr Roger Watson
As a Catholic, Prof Roger Watson is sure Francis was appointed Pope for a reason. It's just that he's damned if he can figure out what it was. Certainly, it's not his liberalism that's drawn young people back to church.
The post Pope Francis’s Liberalism is Not Why Young People Are Returning to Church appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Broadband: Another Privatisation Mess
 national |
sci-tech |
press release
 Friday October 19, 2018 22:10 by pbp - People Before Profit
Press Release - People Before Profit - 17th Oct 2018
Over half a million households in rural Ireland are missing out on broadband because of a disastrous privatisation policy.
Up to 1999, the telephone network was run by a state company, Telecom Eireann. But the Fianna Fail government decided to copy Margaret Thatcher and sell it off. Ever since then, disaster has piled on disaster.
Instead of providing long term investment to install broad band, a series of private owners simply asset stripped the company, which had been re-named Eircom.
By October 2010, for example, Ireland was ranked 29 out of 30 countries, ahead only of Mexico for broadband speed. Only a fifth of the population had access on that date.
Yet this disaster presented another opportunity for private companies to further blackmail the government.
Eir, which is the latest name for the company proposed, to charge €20 for every pole that the fibre optic cables would be hung on.
It was also allowed to cherry pick the easiest houses to connect and separate these out the more difficult ones.
The result as that only one private bidder, Enet, was left to negotiate a contract for the last half a million homes. It was actually backed by money from the state’s own Irish Infrastructure Fund which was set to take control of the company.
But suddenly Enet was downgraded to becoming only a supplier to a new consortium, Granahan McCourt. A Denis O Brien controlled company was then discovered to be part of the new consortium. They set about trying to squeeze even more money from the taxpayers for the contract.
Secret meetings between the former Minister for Communication, Denis Naughton, and the company’s chairperson, David McCourt, were all about getting these extra ‘incentives’.
Behind the whole sorry affair is a tale of greed for profit.
If the state retained control of its own telecommunications company, broadband would have been completed by now.
Yet again privatisation has proved a disaster.
We need a state owned company that completes the National Broadband plan in the interests of people – not profit
|
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter