| Introduction
The Office of the Director of
Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR) in Ireland recently
concluded a consultation procedure on the future development
of the Internet in the country. The Consultation Paper,
entitled 'The Internet in Ireland – Communications
Transmission and Delivery Issues' (Doc. No. ODTR 01/47), is
wide-ranging and provides further evidence of the increasingly
secure anchorage of the Information Society in Ireland. Past
achievements, work in progress and future objectives in this
field are given comprehensive treatment on the website of the
Information
Society Commission; a body which was instituted in 1997 to
research, provide policy advice on and promote, the
development of the Information Society in Ireland.
Issues arising from the
advent and espousal of new technologies are informing
governmental policy-making, as well as making inroads into the
legislative domain, to an unprecedented extent in Ireland.
Last year, for instance, witnessed the promulgation as law of
the Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 (Act No. 27 of 2000, enacted
on 10 July 2000), which ensured the transposition of
Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for
electronic signatures (Official Journal of the European
Communities, L013, 19/01/2000, p. 12) into domestic
Irish law.
Background
The ODTR was established in
June 1997 pursuant to the Telecommunications (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act, 1996 (Act No. 34 of 1996, enacted on 10
December 1996). It is first and foremost the National
Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications sector in
Ireland, but by virtue of the European Communities (Postal
Services) Regulations, 2000 (Statutory Instrument No. 310 of
2000), the ODTR has also been assigned responsibility for the
liberalisation of the postal sector.
The primary challenge faced
by the ODTR is to address the multifarious technological and
other concomitant changes that are coming on-stream in the
telecommunications sector. The ODTR must operate within the
parameters of EU and Irish law, as well as oversee the
harmonious application of relevant laws emanating from both.
To this end, the Office works in concert with homologous
authorities in other Member States of the EU. The regulatory
and other activities of the ODTR are geared towards maximising
the benefits to be drawn by consumers from a liberalised
telecommunications market.
The interest of the ODTR in
the theme of the instant consultation exercise lies in its
responsibility for the regulation of the communications
networks underpinning the Internet. The ODTR has identified
for itself a number of priority lines of action with a view to
stimulating the growth of the “Internet market”, including,
inter alia, “licensing competing operators, developing
frameworks for different technologies suited to internet
delivery (such as FWA, LLU), pricing of interconnect services
and leased lines, and the delivery of facilities against
agreed service levels.” Issues such as the regulation of
content and the registration of domain names are beyond its
remit.
Issues Addressed
The Consultation Paper begins
by presenting its own factual, policy and legal background. It
then proceeds to paint a detailed tableau vivant of the
Internet in Ireland today and invites comments thereon.
Penetration rates, trends and related consumer preferences are
analysed and also compared with the status quo in other
countries. Communications services comprising the Internet are
also subjected to scrutiny. So too, are access issues, in
particular local loop unbundling (which was begun as recently
as the beginning of 2001), dial-up access and Internet Service
Provider (ISP) payment for Internet services.
A consideration of other
sources of income for ISPs takes its place in the analytical
scheme of things, alongside a whole spectrum of other “general
issues arising from the current state of deployment” (these
centre largely on matters such as access and charges). Points
of interconnection are then discussed.
The future of the Internet
constitutes a separate major rubric in the Consultation Paper
and is accordingly also examined at length. Projected
developments are considered, mainly in respect of access
issues and online services. The elimination of barriers to
development constitutes the fulcrum of this section of the
Paper. The ODTR is determined to create “a virtuous circle
whereby residential and business users wish to increase their
use of the Internet and the suppliers of services can benefit
from economies of scale and lower prices further.” New access
mechanisms and models (eg. mobile and digital access) are also
contemplated, albeit in a summary fashion. The ODTR invited
feedback from interested members of the public on each of the
issues mentioned in the (non-exhaustive) list above.
Conclusion
This pulse-taking of Internet
development and the impact of related technological changes in
Ireland is timely: it follows the publication in December 2000
of the Third Report of Ireland's Information Society
Commission. That report advocates the future prioritisation of
the prompt and efficient honouring of Information Society
commitments; the promotion of social inclusion in the
Information Society and the creation of an environment which
would be (even more) conducive to innovation and development
in e-business.
The ODTR has indicated that
the results of the consultation exercise will play a
determinative role in the formulation of its future
Internet-related programmes. They will usefully complement the
lessons learned from other consultation exercises on, for
example, the allocation of additional access codes and number
ranges for dial up Internet access (concluded) and the
treatment of discounts in the calculation of Settlement rates
for Number Translation Codes (ongoing). Information gleaned
from the ODTR consultation will also prove invaluable upon the
conclusion of the current EU-level review of regulatory
structures in the telecommunications sector; a review which is
ultimately likely to necessitate significant changes to the
legislation currently in force in Ireland and in other Member
States.
The period for the
consultation procedure stretched from 4 July to 27 August 2001
and its results will be posted on the
ODTR website
imminently. |
