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Appendix EQuestions posed to eNet and replies receivedQuestion raised by the Joint Committee Q1.That eNet provide the Joint Committee information in regard to (a)Phase 1 and 2 of the MAN’s project, a list of the number of MAN’s in each phase and the number of MAN’s that are actually live. Response of eNet E-Net has been awarded the concession to manage, market and maintain the Phase 1 MAN’s and they are; Athlone, Ballina, Carlow, Carrickmacross, Carrick on Shannon, Cavan, Clonmel, Cork, Drogheda, Dundalk, Dungarvan, Galway, Gweedore, Kilkenny, Kiltimagh, Kingscourt, Letterkenny, Limerick, Manorhamilton, Monaghan, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Roscommon, Sligo, Tullamore, Waterford, Wexford. All these Phase 1 MANs are now live. Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee (b)The capacity of each individual MAN in both phase 1 and 2 Response of eNet In general each Phase 1 MAN comprises of 4x110mm duct system. One duct is populated with one sub-duct which carrying a 96 fibre cable throughout the MAN track. The MAN structure is centred on a Co-location unit. In general this is a 10 metre equipment cabin containing ODF (Optical Distribution Frame), two equipment racks, air-conditioning, Telecommunication standard DC power with associated monitoring and security alarms. Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee (c)The number of MAN’s, in both phase 1 and 2, that have backhaul and how this is supplied Response of eNet There is backhaul currently available to 22 of the 27 MAN’s from either ESB telecom or BT Ireland. As far as we know, all MANs could potentially be connected by Eircom, as they failed to respond to our RFI in August 2005, we cannot be certain. We are in the process of establishing a dialogue with Eircom’s new owners to determine if there has been any change in approach. The table below sets this out current backhaul availability by MAN from ESBT and BT.
Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee (d)The numbers who have take-up or rented capacity on the MAN’s in both phase 1 and 2. Response of eNet To date 16 separate telecommunications providers are providing services over the Phase 1 MAN infrastructure. This includes all major service providers except Eircom. Each of these entities has expressed a desire to continue to expand their use of the MAN’s. Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee (e)The volume of traffic on the MAN’s in both phase 1 and 2 Response of eNet As stated above, 16 of the state’s largest telecoms providers are using Phase 1 MANs. It is not possible for E-Net to give an accurate measure of traffic on the MAN’s not least because it does not have full visibility of that traffic for the largest part of its service offering — namely dark fibre. Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee (f)The number of consumers (both householders and business), the number service providers and the number of enterprise customers on every MAN in phase 1 or 2. Response of eNet Given that traffic carried on the Phase 1 MAN’s originates on mobile networks, cable networks, unbundled loops, fixed wireless networks and from direct connection onto the MAN — it is impossible to ascertain the exact numbers of consumers who are using the MAN — suffice to say that it is large and growing rapidly. Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee (g)The number of back-haul connections from Group Broadband Schemes to the MAN’s in both phase 1 and 2? Response of eNet Group Broadband schemes are a key focus area for E-Net going forward, to date we have only secured one Group Broadband Scheme customer — Freedom Broadband, Manorhamilton. We are not happy with this performance and we are re-building our engagement model and product suite to more effectively meet the needs of theses customers. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q2.What marketing approach has eNet made to attract Group Broadband Schemes to use the MAN’s? Response of eNet Given the number of schemes(161), E-Net is taking a direct engagement, as opposed to a general marketing approach, to GBS. A member of the E-Net sales force has been tasked with identifying each GBS, meeting with the key personnel with a view to providing services. We are confident that this approach will, over time, improve usage of the MANs by GBS. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q3.What is the eNet funding structure? Response of eNet E-Net is privately owned and funded by its directors and by investment equity. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q4.Is eNet in receipt of either direct or indirect State funding — be that through central or local government? Response of eNet No Question raised by the Joint Committee Q5.What is the level of revenue eNet receives from the commercial activity of managing the MAN’s? Response of eNet E-Net’s unaudited revenue in the year to April ’06 was €3.4m. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q6.What is the level of use, in relation to each MAN, that is made by both central and local government? Response of eNet As highly flexible, secure and scalable infrastructure MANs lend themselves perfectly to government usage. E-Net has excellent relationships with CMOD, LGCSB, the Local Authorities and HEAnet. We believe that each of these agencies sees the benefit of open access infrastructure vis-à-vis their own requirements. To date there are 32 state owned premises connected to the MAN’s. E-Net estimates that the MANs account for 0.2% of total state telecommunications expenditure. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q7Are eNet satisfied with the progress in making backhaul arrangements with carriers from a)first phase MANs b)2nd phase MANs And what evidence has eNet to support this position? Response of eNet E-Net has an arms length commercial relationship with two separate suppliers of backhaul — ESB Telecom and BT Ireland. Other E-Net customers have acquired backhaul separately. For operational and mainly commercial reasons the current arrangements have the impact of diluting the competitiveness of MAN based solutions — and therefore the impact of the Phase 1 MAN’s. E-Net believes that Eircom could resolve the backhaul issue entirely at will. Evidence of this is the fact that those entities that have their own separate backhaul arrangements have made best use of the MAN’s, these tend to be larger, more established service providers. Similarly, there has been almost no progress in generating revenue on those 5 MAN’s where there is no backhaul available from ESBT or BT. Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q8What assurance can eNet give the Joint Committee that the 2nd phase of the MAN’s will have backhaul available immediately they are “live”? Response of eNet Phase 2 MANs are still at the planning stage and, as such, DCMNR has yet to determine management arrangements. E-Net, therefore, currently has no information on these towns. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q9.In regard to question 7 above does eNet consider that legislative or regulatory intervention required? Response of eNet E-Net believes that the state could make better use of existing infrastructure by aggregating telecommunications assets into a more coherent offering to drive choice and competition in the market. To the extent that legislation would be needed to enable all or part of this outcome — E-Net considers that it would be required. Question raised by the Joint Committee Q10.With the benefit of experience acquired to date does eNet believe any refining of MANs strategy is required and if so what changes would you seek? Response of eNet The MAN project is delivering through increased competition, reduced costs and improved regional FDI. A number of the more progressive telecoms providers, including Smart and Magnet, have stated publicly that Phase 1 MANs are at the heart of their regional strategy. We know that, as a result of competition from MAN based service providers, Eircom has radically reduced the cost of many of its “high end” business products. We also know that a number of IDA clients, including Dell, Pramerica and Pillar Data System, have made significant inward investment decisions as a result of the availability of the MAN infrastructure. The IDA CEO has stated that he no longer views broadband availability as a barrier to FDI. That said, the MAN’s project is almost unique and, as such, there is no prior success model. In such circumstances it was almost certain that we would not get it exactly right first time — and we haven’t. E-Net believes that there are three key refinements that should be made to the MANs strategy. 1.The cost of connecting to the MANs is inhibiting their use and the ability of telco’s to provide open access services to regional customers. This is particularly the case for SME’s. 2.The regional digital divide was driven by a lack of local fibre and the cost of backhaul. To close the digital divide, regional Ireland must have access to fibre based services at a cost comparable to Dublin. Without a competitive backhaul solution, this will be extremely difficult to deliver. This is not a technical issue but rather one driven by the approach of suppliers of backhaul, in particular Eircom. 3.Government must commit more of its own expenditure to MAN based propositions. The government has invested in a vision of open access telecommunications. Government investment in competition will stimulate the market and improve the situation “on the ground.” Question raised by the Joint Committee Q11.In regard to question 9 above what, if any, legislative or regulatory intervention does eNet propose? Response of eNet As telecommunications service providers we would not feel qualified to advise on this matter. |
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