Ireland’s incumbent telco eir is attempting to free itself of the financial constraints contained in the country’s universal service obligation (USO), launching a legal challenge in which it argues that the proliferation of mobile and fixed broadband alternatives has rendered the USO for basic telephone services in rural areas obsolete. According to a report from The Irish Times, eir is arguing that it is now unfairly burdened with the obligation to provide access, often in economically unviable areas and, as a result, it now intends to lodge a case with the High Court in the coming days to petition a change in stance from the regulator, ComReg.
eir could, however, face an uphill battle in its bid given that the Irish government wants to revise and enforce a new USO – under the proposed National Broadband Plan – making a minimum 30Mbps service an ‘enforceable right’. With eir’s one of three consortia bids shortlisted for the EUR500-EUR600 million (USD559-USD671 million) broadband plan, the other two being SIRO and E-net, communications minister Denis Naughten recently confirmed that he aims ‘to take advantage of upcoming changes in EU telecoms regulation to devise a new USO that will guarantee minimum broadband speeds for all citizens’.
