A lot has changed since ET was stranded somewhere in the US in 1982. If he landed in Ireland today, instead of simply wanting to phone home he might consider faxing or e-mailing home or calling from a range of different telecommunications companies.
Since the Irish telecommunications market was deregulated in December 1998 there has been considerable change. Two years ago there was one licensed telecom operator, which was Eircom. Now we have 77 licensed operators.
Some 11 of these companies have a 15-year general licence. "The general licence allows licensees to provide telecommunications networks and services including voice telephony," says Mr Brighid Smyth, public affairs manager of the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulations (ODTR). The basic telecommunications licence does not cover voice telephony.
"The Eircom response and the entry of the new companies has transformed the market," she explains.
One of the noticeable changes that followed liberalisation of the telecoms market is that 120,000 customers are using carrier pre select. "We all rent the line from Eircom at the moment, but you can choose which operator you want to deliver your local calls, national calls or all calls," explains Ms Smyth. The introduction of geographic number portability last December means customers can take their number with them even if they change operator.
The new entrants share of the fixed line market was more than 17 per cent at the end of September 2000, according to the ODTR's most recent quarterly review. There were 1.59 million PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) lines in the Republic - 1.09 million of which are residential.
After deregulation the first general licence was awarded to Interoute, a pan-European telco on December 1st, 1998. In Ireland it operates under the Spirit brand and competes directly with Eircom as a residential provider of voice services to the home. So far it says it has 90,000 customers. "What we are able to offer people since deregulation is cheaper phone calls," says Ms Jill Forde, Spirit corporate affairs manager. Interoute is building a European fibre optic network called i21. On completion it will enable Spirit to offer extremely cheap calls to Europe.
Currently the last bit of line that enters a person's house belongs to Eircom, but the "unbundling the local loop" will allow the line to be rented by competing operators such as Esat. "The other operators will have to go into the exchange and place their own equipment in the local exchanges. In order to do that they have to pay Eircom a fee," Ms Smyth explains. The ODTR is currently in negotiations with Eircom over the fee and hopes to resolve the pricing issue by the end of February.
"What it will offer to the consumer is voice, Internet and entertainment services via your phone line. It promotes fast roll out of these advance services using a technology called ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)," says Ms Smyth.
Ms Majella Fitzpatrick, Eircom spokeswoman describes DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) as a technology, which is popped on top of the two copper wires going into each home. This expands the capability of the copper wires. She compares it to the difference between what a garden hose and a large pipe could carry. "ADSL is about moving broadband into the local access network."
With DSL people will be able to "access the Internet, use the phone and watch digital TV on it at the same time, for example." DSL will allow for the streaming of a massive amount of technology down the original copper wires with the DSL technology on top of it. Simultaneous high speed Internet, telephony and entertainment services are possible. "Effectively you are moving from a plain old telephone to a communications system almost in people's homes."
Although there are many changes to the phone line, as we know it, fixed line telephone calls do not necessarily have to travel through regular phone lines. An alternative is so-called fixed wireless access, available via six "wireless in the local loop" licences. According to Ms Smyth it is a radio-based technology intended as an alternative to copper. Although the technology is transmitted through the airwaves to a box on the side of a house, it is still a landline.
Another way of routing and receiving calls is through cable television. NTL, which is better known for its provision of cable television, is one of a number of companies which are bringing telephony over cable and into houses. Its two-way network starter pack kills three birds with the one stone and includes TV, two telephone lines and unlimited Internet access, all via cable.
Dr Donal O'Mahony, director of the Networks and Telecommunications Research Group in Trinity College, sees a convergence or a coming together of the computer and IT industry, the telecoms and telephony industry, and the broadcasting, media and entertainment industry.
His group's research starts "with the premise that there will only be one network in the future. You won't have a phone network, you won't have broadcasting networks, you will just have the single network that everything comes to you over. "What we are really looking into is what form that network will take".
