Telecommunications in Ireland operate in a regulated competitive market that provides customers with a wide array of advanced digital services. This article explores Ireland's telecommunications infrastructure including: fixed and mobile networks, The voice, data and Internet services, cable television, developments in next generation networks and broadcast networks for radio and television.
Regulation
Telecommunications, including radio frequency spectrum licensing and the postal sector, are regulated by the
Commission for Communications Regulation
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) ( ga, An Coimisiún um Rialáil Cumarsáide) is the general communications regulator for Ireland, covering almost all possible types of communications.
Founded on 1 December 2002, ComReg too ...
(ComReg). ComReg was established on 1 December 2002. The
Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) ( ga, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann) is the regulator of both public and commercial broadcasting sector in Ireland. It was established on 1 October 2009, replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) ( ga, Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann).
The
Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications ( ga, An tAire Comhshaoil, Aeráide agus Cumarsáide) is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
The c ...
has overall responsibility for national policy and regulation of both telecommunications and broadcasting.
The telecommunications market in Ireland was opened to competition in 1998.
Eir's dominance has reduced and by Q3 2019 operators other than eir accounted for 61% of the Irish fixed voice market retail revenue and 54.7% market share by fixed-line retail and wholesale revenue and 80.9% of the mobile market (excluding mobile broadband and machine-to-machine subscriptions) or 84.4% of total subscriptions. Other operators accounted for 68.6% of retail fixed broadband subscriptions (comprising cable, FTTH, FTTC/VDSL and ADSL) and 57.3% of retail FTTP subscriptions
Eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ...
remains the largest telecommunications company in Ireland, offering fixed, mobile, and broadband services. As
Bord Telecom Éireann, the company was state owned until 1999, when it was floated on the
Irish and
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
s.
Infrastructure
Ireland's telecommunications network is a modern digital system connected by an extensive national fibre optic network with multiple high capacity fibre optic links to the UK, Continental Europe, North America and with dedicated capacity on routes to Asia and other parts of the globe.
There is an open and competitive telecommunications market regulated by
ComReg
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) ( ga, An Coimisiún um Rialáil Cumarsáide) is the general communications regulator for Ireland, covering almost all possible types of communications.
Founded on 1 December 2002, ComReg too ...
. However, the fixed-line market is still dominated by the incumbent operator
Eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ...
.
Several companies operate national fibre optic networks including
Eir
In Norse mythology, Eir (Old Norse: , "protection, help, mercy"Orchard (1997:36).) is a goddess or valkyrie associated with medical skill. Eir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the ...
,
BT Ireland
BT Communications (Ireland) Limited is a telecommunications and internet company in Ireland. It is a subsidiary of BT Group plc.
History
Esat Telecom
The company was founded in 1990 by a consortium headed by business magnate Denis O'Brien and ...
,
ESB Group and
Virgin Media Ireland. Eir's fibre network is the most extensive covering most parts of the country with 12,000 km of fibre routes (>40,000 km of fibres)
Eir's Next Generation Network upgrade rolled out
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) which is capable of delivering up to 320 Gbit/s along a single fibre route.
This upgrade also sees Eir's core infrastructure moving to an all-IP network. It has major aggregation nodes at 140 locations around Ireland and onward fibre connections to another 470 central office sites.
Ireland also has major connections to multiple international fibre optic networks.
94 Irish towns and cities also have access to publicly owned, carrier-neutral metropolitan fibre networks managed by Enet.
These networks can be used by any licensed Irish telecommunications operator to provide commercial or residential end users with products.
For residential and small business providers, most major urban areas have access to
Virgin Media Ireland's
HFC HFC may stand for:
Chemicals
* Hafnium carbide
* Hydrofluorocarbons
Financial institutions
*HFC Bank, part of HSBC Finance
*Home Finance Company, known in Ghana as "HFC Bank"
Places
*Hall for Cornwall, a theatre in Cornwall, UK
*Heng Fa Chuen, a ...
network which provides speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s using
EuroDOCSIS 3.1 cable modem technology.
Open Eir is also in the process of rolling out
FTTH
Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber op ...
which provides speeds of up to 1000Mbit/s down and 100Mbit/s up. They also provide an extensive vectored VDSL2 based FTTC access network, using the legacy cooper network. This offers speeds of up to 100Mbit/s down and 20Mbit/s up.
Retail services using this next generation access infrastructure are provided by approximately 15 operators.
SIRO, a joint venture between
ESB Group and
Vodafone Ireland, provides another open access fibre to home network, used by multiple ISPs to deliver service. Fibre is run alongside ESB Networks 230V/400V LV electricity distribution system, sharing underground ducts and poles, with fibre typically entering premises next to the electricity meter. This, similar to Eir's FTTH network, delivers speeds of up to 1 Gbit/s and is capable of delivery of 10 Gbit/s in the future.
Ireland has three mobile networks that own and operate their own network infrastructure and a number of
MVNO operators that operate mobile phone services using one of these infrastructure providers' radio networks. The three infrastructure owning networks are
Eir Mobile,
Three, and
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...
.
Meteor and Eir Mobile were the first to launch 4G LTE services in Ireland on 26 September 2013, followed by Vodafone on 14 October 2013, and Three on 27 January 2014. O2 was due to launch its 4G services later in 2014, but plans were put on hold when its acquisition by Three was approved in May, and from the time of the merger in 2015, previous O2 customers gained 4G coverage through Three's network, albeit with initial service problems.
In 2016, 41.9% of Ireland's mobile subscriptions were using 4G technology. 3G remained the dominant technology with 44.6% share, however, it is likely to be overtaken by 4G in 2017.
Telephone system
* Fixed telephone lines in use 1,168,591 (Q3 2020, ComReg)
* Mobile cellular telephones: 5,182,682 (Q3 2020, ComReg)
* Country code: 353
As mobile phone services become more price competitive, more Irish customers are opting to drop landline services. This is reflected by a sharp fall in the number of fixed line channels in use and an equivalent increase in mobile subscriptions. Details are tracked on ComReg's ComStat website
There are three mobile telecommunications providers:
Three Ireland
Three Ireland, officially Three Ireland (Hutchison) Limited (formerly Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd), is a telecommunications and internet service provider operating in Ireland as a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, operating under the global Three bran ...
,
Eir Mobile and
Vodafone Ireland.
There are also some
MNVOs (Mobile Network Virtual Operators), such as: 48,
GoMo
GoMo is an online-only mobile telephone flanker brand currently operating in Ireland and Switzerland, owned by Xavier Niel's Iliad SA. GoMo was first launched in Ireland on 15 October 2019, using the Eir mobile network. and has over 250,000 mobil ...
,
Lycamobile,
An Post Mobile,
Tesco Mobile
Tesco Mobile Limited (trading as Tesco Mobile) is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. It is operated by British retailer Tesco, using the network O2 as its carrier except in ...
,
Virgin Mobile and
Clear Mobile
Clear Mobile is a mobile telephone network running as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using Vodafone
Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunicati ...
.
History
The original network was taken over by the Irish Department of Posts and Telegraphs (P&T) from the British Post Office in 1921 and used a mixture of manual and step-by-step automatic exchanges. Development of the network was relatively stagnant with slow rollout of automatic switching using step-by-step exchanges until after WWII.
From 1957 onwards, P&T began to roll out more modern
crossbar switch
In electronics and telecommunications, a crossbar switch (cross-point switch, matrix switch) is a collection of switches arranged in a matrix configuration. A crossbar switch has multiple input and output lines that form a crossed pattern of int ...
es primarily using equipment supplied by
Ericsson
(lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in informat ...
built at their
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...
facility. ITT Pentaconta crossbar switches, built by CGCT (Compagnie générale de constructions téléphoniques) were also used in some areas. This saw significant improvements to many services, but the network was still quite underdeveloped in rural areas.
Digital switching was introduced in 1980 using Ericsson
AXE and
Alcatel Alcatel may refer to:
* Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia
* Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...
E10 switches both of which were manufactured at facilities in Ireland. This saw a total transformation of the telephone network with modern automatic and digital services reaching even the most rural parts of Ireland by the mid-1980s.
The fixed-line network is now made up of multiple operators using a diverse range of digital technologies including VoIP.
Ireland's first mobile telephone network,
Eircell
Eircell was an Irish mobile cellular network provider which was established in 1984, with operations commencing in 1986. Its access code was 088 for the original analogue TACS system and 087 for the later GSM system. Following the abolition of the ...
, went live in 1986 using the analogue
TACS
Total Access Communication System (TACS) and ETACS are variants of Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) which were announced as the choice for the first two UK national cellular systems in February 1983, less than a year after the UK government an ...
system.
2G
GSM services from Eircell launched on 1 July 1993.
Digifone followed in 1997, then
Meteor
A meteoroid () is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space.
Meteoroids are defined as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than this are classified as micr ...
in 2001 (having been licensed in 1998) and
3 Ireland
Three Ireland, officially Three Ireland (Hutchison) Limited (formerly Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd), is a telecommunications and internet service provider operating in Ireland as a subsidiary of CK Hutchison, operating under the global Three bran ...
launched its UMTS 3G-only service in 2005.
3G services launched in 2004 (Vodafone Ireland) and other networks quickly followed suit, and 4G launched in 2013 (Meteor) and is now available on most networks. Meteor was bought out by Eir in 2005 and eventually rebranded as Eir in 2017.
Internet
* Internet users: 3.6 million, 77% of the population, 70th in the world (2011);
[Percentage of Individuals using the Internet 2000–2011]
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
, accessed on 19 August 2012. 3.0 million, 67th in the world (2009)
["Communications :: Ireland"]
''The World Factbook'', U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, retrieved 28 February 2013
* Dial-up subscriptions: 11,437 (Q4 2012 ComStat)
* Fixed broadband subscriptions: 1,506,832 (Q3 2020, ComReg)
* Mobile broadband subscriptions: 323,530 (Q3 2020, ComReg)
* Internet hosts: 1.4 million, 40th in the world (2012)
[
* Internet censorship: None (2011)
* Top-level domain name: ].ie
.ie is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) which corresponds with the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Ireland. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) list the Computing Services Computer Centre of University College Dublin as its spo ...
[
Broadband Internet access is available in Ireland via DSL, cable, ]wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
, and satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
. By the end of 2011 Eircom announced that 75% of its working lines would be connected to Next Generation Broadband (NGB) enabled exchanges.["Annual Report 2010 / 2011"]
Commission for Communications Regulation, 20 April 2012
Currently available services (Q3 2014)
* ADSL - up to 24Mbit/s - (several providers and unbundled services are available.)
* FTTC - VDSL up to 100Mbit/s down 20 Mbit/s up (several providers - vectoring technology is used)
* Cable - Speeds of up to 360Mbit/s - Main provider Virgin Media Ireland
* Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) - various technologies in use - mostly used in rural areas.
* Mobile broadband - UMTS (3G) and LTE (4G) services are available from several providers.
A typical monthly broadband Internet subscription cost $26.02 in 2011, 14% less than the average of $30.16 for the 34 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
(OECD) countries surveyed.
In August 2012 Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte (born 18 May 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 2002 to 2007 and a Minister of State from 199 ...
, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, outlined a national broadband plan with goals of:
* 70–100 Mbit/s broadband service available to at least 50 per cent of the population,
* at least 40 Mbit/s available to at least a further 20 per cent, and
* a minimum of 30 Mbit/s available to everyone, no matter how rural or remote.
Founded in 1996, the Internet Neutral Exchange
Internet Neutral Exchange (INEX) is an Internet exchange located in the Republic of Ireland, operating three VLANs at points of presence in Dublin at Equinix DB1 - Citywest, BT - Citywest, Equinix DB2 (Formerly Data Electronics) - Kilcarbery Park, ...
(INEX) is an industry-owned association that provides IP peering and traffic exchange for its members in Ireland. The INEX switching centres are located in five secure data centres in Dublin and one in Cork: TeleCity Group in Kilcarbery Park, Dublin 22 & TeleCity Group in Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24 and Interxion DUB1, and Interxion DUB2 in Park West, and Vodafone Clonshaugh as well as at CIX, Hollyhill, Cork T23 R68N. The switches are connected by dedicated resilient fibre links. In June 2015 it listed 74 full and 21 associate members.
Established in 1998, the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland
The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland, or ISPAI, is a non profit company established in 1998 that represents various Republic of Ireland, Irish Internet service providers. It is a member of EuroISPA.
The association also runs thIri ...
(ISPAI) listed 24 Internet access and hosting providers as members in 2012.
Radio and television
Infrastructure
Television in Ireland is broadcast using DVB-T using the common platform specifications defined by NorDig which apply in the Nordic countries and Ireland. Video is encoded using the MPEG4 system.
The analogue PAL-I broadcasting system is no longer on air.
Cable systems operate using the DVB-C standard and Satellite is broadcast using DVB-S/S2.
Some areas still carry a range of cable channels in analogue PAL-I format. Although, this is normally just a legacy service provided by default. It is not possible to subscribe to analogue cable as a new customer.
Radio is broadcast primarily using FM 88-108 MHz.
Digital DAB Radio
Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.
Types
In digital broadcasting sys ...
is also available in some areas.
RTÉ Radio 1 is also broadcast on Longwave 252 kHz (AM)
Mediumwave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
services have been discontinued.
2RN operates a national FM network and DAB services. However, most independent FM stations own their own broadcasting infrastructure.
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...
(''Radio ndTelevision of Ireland''; abbreviated as RTÉ) is a statutory semi-state company and the public service broadcaster
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
that dominates the radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
and TV sectors in Ireland. The first commercial radio stations began broadcasting in 1989. Prior to 1989 hundreds of pirate radio stations were a mainstay of radio listener-ship, particularly in Dublin, and a handful of pirate stations continue to operate illegally today. In 1998 TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to:
Television
*Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso
*Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala
*Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by EPTV ...
became the first privately owned commercial TV station and it remains the main free-to-air service after RTÉ. Competition also comes from British public and private terrestrial TV. Satellite and cable TV are widely available. There are also non-commercial community and special interest radio stations.
RTÉ both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet in English and Irish. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on 31 December 1961, making RTÉ one of the oldest continuously operating public service broadcasters in the world. Some RTÉ services are only funded by advertising, while other RTÉ services are only funded by the television licence fee.
Saorview
Saorview ( ) is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN.
The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with a full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation i ...
( ) is Ireland's national free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) service operated by 2RN. Trial service began on 29 October 2010 with full service to the public from May 2011. Analogue television transmissions ended on 24 October 2012.
SAORSAT is Ireland's national free-to-air digital satellite television service, also operated by 2RN. SAORSAT delivers Irish television services to the 1% to 2% of homes that are not covered by the SAORVIEW Digital Terrestrial Television service.
A television licence is required for any address at which there is a television set or device that is not exempt. The annual licence fee is €160. The licence is free to senior citizens (to anyone over the age of 70, some over 66), some social welfare recipients, and individuals who are blind.[
]
See also
* Community Radio Forum of Ireland (CRAOL)
* Internet censorship in Ireland
Internet censorship in Ireland is a controversial issue with the introduction of a graduated response policy in 2008 followed by an effort to block certain file sharing sites starting in February 2009. Beyond these issues there are no governmen ...
* List of Irish language radio stations
*
* Media of the Republic of Ireland
References
External links
Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Commission for Communications Regulation
{{Telecommunications