Ireland takes its first stride on the road to digital economy

Perhaps it is time to retire the Celtic tiger and replace it with the Celtic cyborg. Certainly, the old economic model will, if it does not face up to the challenges of the technology-driven future, find itself out the door anyway.

Ireland took its first long stride down the road towards a digital economy with, in one day, the release of the Advisory Committee on Telecommunication's report and Telecom Eireann's surprise announcement that it would offer a flat-rate phone charge for Internet access starting in January.

In the report, the committee makes the implementation of very low cost or flat rate Internet charges one of its strongest recommendations.

Telecom will not announce rates for this service yet, but to be compelling to users, it would need to be priced at no more than £2030 monthly for heavy use. Otherwise, users have no incentive to stay online for extended periods. Nonetheless, the Telecommunications Committee must have toasted the announcement. It will represent an initial and highly symbolic breakthrough in convincing the international market - and the Irish people - that the report is not wishful thinking, but offers an achievable, e-commerce based future for Ireland.

Their goal in the report was to suggest "a strategy to position Ireland as a key global centre in advanced communications, the Internet and electronic commerce". While some of the recommendations seem daunting in scope for a small State - especially those which outline the need for state of the art, low cost broadband infrastructure - committee members were adamant that many pieces are already in place to encourage inward investment. Most infrastructure would go in at private cost via the competitive market, they said - and their membership includes those who would know - some of the major brainpower in the telecommunications industry.

Sceptics might take heed of a casual comment by the committee's chairman, Mr Brian Thompson, who is vice chairman of the largest telecommunications conglomerate in the world, Qwest. He said the committee members would continue to act "individually" to realise the goals of the report. As is often the case in the business world, a personal recommendation can move the mountains any number of development agencies, glossy brochures, and seminars cannot.