Thank feck for that!
RTE.ie are reporting today that Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan has ruled out State ownership of telecoms provider Eircom.
If the government did nationalize Eircom it would cost them about 4 -5 billion euro's (debt + pensions) and they'd effectively get a outdated telecoms networks.
If the Irish Government wanted to own a telecoms network they'd almost be better off starting a new agency and spend that 4-5 Billion euro on building new infrastructure such as fibre to the home.
Minister Ryan went on to criticize what he called Eircom's short-term ownership model and said he would welcome and facilitate investors with the capacity to invest in a long-term business model for Eircom.
The full story is below or can be viewed on RTE.ie:
State ownership of Eircom ruled out
Saturday, 23 May 2009 13:05
Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan has ruled out State ownership of telecoms provider Eircom.
Speaking at the Telecommunications and Internet Federation's annual charity ball last night, the Minister said that while the Government attached significant importance to Eircom, State ownership of the company was not on his agenda.
Mr Ryan criticised what he called Eircom's short-term ownership model and said he would welcome and facilitate investors with the capacity to invest in a long-term business model for Eircom.
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1 comment:
Well, it would be nice to see this debated a bit more before Minister Ryan proclaims the state's position to a select gathering...
On one hand Minister Ryan claims that Eircom is a sound longterm investment. If this is true and given that Eircom owns so much of the of the state's comms infrastructure, it seems odd to me that he doesn't see a role for the state in Eircom's future.
I wonder too how exactly he intends to prevent further asset stripping at Eircom (is there anything left?) and if the government has these powers, why were they not used before now?
Only the deluded believe Mr Ryan has the vision to carry broadband policy in this country forward when his motto so far seems to be 'do it on the cheap, who cares if its second rate'. We will all pay later.
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