COMREG NEWS
ComReg Release a Radio Frequency Plan
On 19 December 2023, ComReg published its Radio Frequency Plan for Ireland. Following the recent World Radiocommunication Conference, a major revision is planned for 2024, taking onboard the changes to the International Radio Regulations and the European Common Allocations. ComReg has endeavoured to maintain its commitment to all stakeholders by providing a comprehensive source of key data on current radio spectrum allocations in this jurisdiction. The plan sets out Ireland's radio spectrum allocations ranging from 8.3 kilohertz to 3000 Gigahertz and indicates frequency band to which each type of service is allocated. The link to the full plan can be found here.
ComReg Published Quarterly Key Data Report
The latest key data report covering July to September 2023 demonstrates that at the end this period, there were over 2 million active broadband subscriber lines in Ireland, representing a 1.32% increase compared to previous quarter and a 2.53% compared to Q3 2022. Furthermore, there were 9,532,361 active mobile subscriptions in Ireland at the end of Q3 2023 including mobile broadband (MBB) and Machine to Machine (M2M). Three had the largest share of mobile subscriptions including MBB and M2M at 45.5%, while Vodafone had the highest market share excluding MBB and M2M at 33.9%. Meanwhile, Eir had the highest revenue share in the fixed market at 38.9% in Q3 2023. The full report can be found here.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Eir Publishes Report Highlighting Data Usage in 2023
Eir claims their 'Year in Data' report for 2023 conveys a 'significant shift in how the Irish public have embraced digital connectivity'. Eir reports that it recorded a 9.7% year-on-year increase in total data usage in 2023, noting in particular that Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) data rose 49% from the previous year. Furthermore, Eir claims that its 5G network saw an impressive 130% increase in traffic compared to 2022. Further information can be found here.
Irish IT firm HCS invests €1.1m to launch a dedicated telecoms business
Waterford-based company HCS has invested €1.1m in order to launch a dedicated telecoms business to deal with rising customer demand. HCS says that its decision to create this new arm – HCS Telecom- is because of a surge in demand resulting from increased hybrid and remote working. HCS expects to employ eight people in this new business by the end of the year, while also expecting to achieve revenues of €1.3m in 2024. HCS's current head of telecom solutions Mick Foley, commented on the new division, claiming it aims to 'enable more organisations to work from anywhere, safe in the knowledge that they are supported by a range of reliable and secure solutions." Further information can be found here.
ComReg welcomes the European Commission's clearance of its planned framework for the regulation of wholesale broadband markets
The Commission approved ComReg's assessment of competition in a wholesale physical infrastructure access (PIA) market and wholesale broadband market together with its proposed regulatory framework to govern these markets. The Commission agrees with ComReg's assessment that Eircom has significant market power and has therefore provided the green light for ComReg to continue regulating the next generation of fibre lines that Eircom rents out to retail telecom companies. Furthermore, the Commission notes that ComReg's wholesale pricing proposals should encourage ongoing investment and innovation in next generation broadband services. Further information can be found here.
This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.
