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IP: connectivity in Europe -- and Ireland, in particular
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 07:46:22 -0400
From: Brendan Kehoe <brendan () zen org> Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 11:49:36 +0100 To: farber () cis upenn edu Subject: connectivity in Europe -- and Ireland, in particular In Europe there's quite a diverse collection of options for connecting to the Internet. The variety comes not from a rich choice set, but rather from the drastic differences from one country to the next. England and France have far different examples of what's available, compared to others like Portugal and Ireland. Recently in Ireland one of the telecommunications companies, ESAT (owned by British Telecom, ironically enough) launched a program called `Surf-No-Limits'. During off-peak times customers could dial up for a flat rate of 20 pounds per month. However, in late April ESAT sent letters to 2000 of its Surf-No-Limits (SNL) customers saying that they were using the "no limits" too much, and would be cut off. Period. No other choices. A Web site's been set up by IrelandOffline, a new group that's started to not only address Esat's recent debacle of Surf-No-Limits, but also to campaign for unmetered, affordable access to the internet in Ireland for home users and small businesses. It's long overdue, particularly for a country that's trying to pitch itself as the ``e-commerce hub of Europe.'' [1] For details about the Surf-No-Limits (SNL) problem see Dave Walsh's story in today's Irish Times: http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/computimes/2001/0521/ct1.htm This issue has caught the attention of people in Ireland who realize that options for connectivity are few and far between. It's my hope that the folks on IP will be able to assist in the growth of useful Internet connectivity in Europe by spreading the word of this group far and wide to anyone who would find the topic to be of interest. IrelandOffline - http://www.irelandoffline.com/ IrelandOffline is an independent organisation, campaigning for unmetered, affordable access to the internet in Ireland for home users and small businesses. It has grown mainly out of discussions on the ie.comp newsgroup on Usenet. We are not affiliated with or sponsored by any of the Irish ISPs (Internet Service Providers) or telecommunications provider companies. ... [ At a Sunday afternoon get-together in Dublin ] was decided to form a 'user action group' which would not only lobby Esat to offer some alternative to existing SNL users, but would seek to bring Eircom's behaviour into the public arena and lobby ODTR and the government to take effective action that would ultimately result in full broadband access. [1] http://www.rte.ie/news/review2000/technology1.html -- Brendan Kehoe brendan () zen org http://www.zen.org/~brendan/
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