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'Eircom mulling NGN investment level, payphone elimination'(DMeurope Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Eircom is reviewing its level of investment in its next generation of broadband networks as a result of the economic downturn, the Irish Times reported. It also said it wants to scrap payphones. Appearing before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the telecom incumbent said it plans to upgrade its core network from copper wire to fibre at urban centres and regional towns throughout the country by 2011. It is also upgrading its current network to deliver speeds of 1-24 Mbits per second. Eircom did not however give the committee a definite figure on investment. Eircom head of public policy Pat Galvin said the group has come to the end of an investment cycle which saw infrastructure investments totalling EUR 1 billion in the past three years. The company also said technology limitations would mean there would still be some people too far from the exchanges to avail of Eircom's broadband service.The committee urged Eircom to consult communities before removing more than 2,100 phone boxes around the country. A decision on this is due in March. Eircom told the Oireachtas committee that the use of public payphones had seriously declined in recent years, with revenues falling more than 70 percent since 2002. Describing payphones as 'the telex of our day', Galvin said the kiosks were no longer relevant to young people. The Irish Times also said that Eircom staff are bracing themselves for significant pay cuts and redundancies as the company carries out its review. (Distributed for DMeurope.com via M2 Communications Ltd (www.m2.com)) Copyright ? 2009 M2 Communications Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |