Telecommunications in Ireland, including postal services run by An Post, are regulated to a large extent by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources has overall responsibility for national policy and regulation. All of Ireland's communications infrastructure is now digital but progress in broadband technology has been stagnant since 2006.
In telecommunications, the deregulated market has ensured that other licenced operators now account for a 32% share of the market. [1]
Broadband is now available in Ireland via DSL, Cable, Wireless and Satellite.[2] As of November 2007, according to ComReg the Irish Communications Regulator DSL is available to c. 88% of homes and businesses, however this figure is disputed my many pressure groups in Ireland as it only reflects the number of telephone lines connected to a broadband enabled exchange, not whether those lines are of a high enough quality to receive a DSL connection. Overall take-up of broadband (cable, dsl, wireless etc.) is 15.4% as of July '07 [3] and there are 698,000 broadband subscriptions as of September ’07 [4] The average monthly subscription cost is $40.41, 20% cheaper than the average of $49 for the 35 OECD countries surveyed. [5]
In June 2009, there were over 1.3 million broadband connections of which mobile broadband comprised 28%. [6]
In 2008, the then Minister for Communications Eammon Ryan announced new planned investment in broadband infrastructure, which may see every household in Ireland capable of receiving broadband speeds of 100mb by 2012. (100mb broadband speed became available to UPC Ireland customers in 2011) .5% of lines connected to broadband-enabled exchanges cannot avail of DSL, due to distance and other issues. [7]
There are four mobile telecommunications providers - 3 Ireland, O2 Ireland, Meteor and Vodafone Ireland. There are also four MNVOs (Mobile Network Virtual Operator) - JustMobile (Runs off the Vodafone Network), eMobile (Runs off the Meteor Network), Tesco Mobile (Runs off the O2 Network) and Postfone (runs off the Vodafone network).
Premium SMS and mobile payments are allowing businesses to profit from revenue taken directly from customers phone bills. One of the first companies to offer Irish mobile payments nationwide and to advise on the regulations and requirements involved are txtNation, registered with regulator Comreg. other companies that offer a similar service include Puca and Zamano.