Flat-rate access 'a priority'

The new Commission for Communications Regulation (Comreg) will have an immediate focus on the introduction of flat-rate internet access when it is established on December 1st, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Ahern, said yesterday.

The Minister said that he would issue the three-person Commission with a draft policy directive on December 2nd.

As well as raising support for the Government's national broadband policy, this directive will concentrate on minimising the cost of regulation to the telecommunications sector.

"I want flat-rate internet access, the public wants it and the economy needs it," said Mr Ahern, whose policy direction of the regulator will be unprecedented. His intervention follows a recent OECD study which found the Republic had slipped to 27th place out of 30 countries in terms of its telecoms infrastructure.

Mr Ahern's directive will also provide for greater consistency between the regulatory obligations imposed in the Republic and other EU states. "This policy direction will provide a framework within which the new commission can respond to the Government's policy objectives for the sector," Mr Ahern said.

The commission, which will replace the existing Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR), will be chaired by the current regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, for its first year of existence. Ms Doyle will be joined by two new commissioners: Ms Isolde Goggin and Mr John Doherty. Ms Goggin previously worked for the Competition Authority, while Mr Doherty was with the ODTR.

The main function of the body will be to regulate and license the electronic communication, postal and radio frequency sectors.

Mr Ahern paid tribute to the work of Ms Doyle's office over the past five years.