Ireland’s telecom market for long suffered from poor broadband uptake, underinvestment and mismanagement among some of the key operators. Eircom perhaps suffered most from the financial crisis which hit the country in 2008 and continues to reverberate. The financial difficulties of customers repressed company revenue and curtailed investment plans. On a larger scale, the government’s indebtedness obliged it to rein in investment in infrastructure. Although telecom sector revenue showed some recovery in 2014, the country’s economic woes, and the reluctance of consumers to spend on other than essential services, will restrain growth for the next few years at least.

Hutchison 3G Ireland (3 Ireland) will invest EUR65 million (USD72.4 million) in the overhaul of its technology platform, including its billing system, according to reports from the Irish Times. The cellco has signed a five-year deal with US-based software solutions provider Amdocs to oversee the move, which will see the integration of 3 Ireland’s systems with the business that previously operated as O2 Ireland, before it was acquired by Hutchison in July 2014. Robert Finnegan, chief executive at 3 Ireland, was cited as saying the new deal will ‘substantially’ reduce its annual IT costs, benefitting customers with lower prices.

Nevertheless, operators are showing some determination to invest in infrastructure upgrades and so provide improved services to attract and retain customers. This is particularly true in the broadband market, which for many years was underdeveloped by European standards. Regulatory efforts to improve local loop unbundling and wholesale access has contributed to market competition, while separate efforts undertaken by Eircom, UPC Ireland and Vodafone/ESB, as well as a small number of small-scale fibre operators, has resulted in a rejuvenated broadband sector where average download speeds are now among the highest in Europe. The National Broadband Plan, underpinned by government investment of about 500 million, will see services extended to some 900,000 premises considered uncommercial by market players.

Irish ISP Magnet Networks has announced its acquisition of the retail business division of WiMAX operator Imagine Communications in an all-cash transaction. The purchase will see Magnet’s business unit grow to 11,000 SMEs and corporate customers, while the enlarged operator will employ a total of 95 people, including 17 new staff from the acquired company. Imagine’s decision to sell its retail business division is said to form part of its strategic focus on the national rollout of its new 4G LTE network.

The mobile market underwent a considerable shift in 2014 when 3 Ireland acquired O2, and so secured a 36% market share, behind only Vodafone at 38%. Eircom’s mobile service offers effective competition, while there is a lively and growing MVNO market. Mobile broadband, on the back of expanding HSPA and LTE networks, has become very popular among consumers while the regulator has also set aside spectrum in several bands for use by mobile services.
The investment is in addition to a two-year EUR300 million 4G network upgrade due for completion in July 2016. As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in June 2015 3 Ireland announced that it would extend 4G availability to all former O2 Ireland post-paid customers from 1 July 2015, with O2 pre-paid subscribers able to access 4G technology from the end of July.

The market for converged media and applications in Ireland has advanced with improved poor broadband infrastructure, particularly from UPC Ireland and Eircom.

Statistics and analysis on the key sectors of the Irish telecom market, presenting an overview of the regulatory environment, fixed network operators and services, and telecom infrastructure is provided with highest possible accuracy. It reviews mobile platforms, assesses key regulatory issues, and presents a snapshot of the consumer market, emerging technologies, and the growth of mobile data services. The analysis also notes the status of digital TV via terrestrial, cable and satellite platforms, and profiles the fixed and wireless broadband markets, together with developments in related technologies such as FttP, powerline broadband, wireless and mobile broadband, WiFi and internet via satellite. It also provides forecasts for broadband uptake to 2020.

Key developments:

• Government promotes NewEra National Recovery Program requiring 90% FttC connectivity
• Eircom reports continuing falling revenue into fiscal 2015;
• Vodafone Ireland supporting Ryanair’s M2M requirements;
• Eircom signs five-year vendor contract with Ericsson;
• Hutchison Whampoa completes acquisition of O2 Ireland for €780 million;
• Eircom launches eVision on Demand service;
• National Broadband Plan expected to go to tender by end-2015;
• Eircom delivers 100Mb/s services to over a million premises;
• Vodafone and ESB connect premises for their 1Gb/s fibre trials;
• Regulator’s market data to Q4 2014;
• Telcos operating and financial data to Q4 2014;