Eircom's chief executive, Mr Phil Nolan, has robustly rejected accusations that the company is dragging its heels over high speed internet roll-out.
Dismissing suggestions by Labour TD Mr Tommy Broughan that Eircom had sought to protect market position by creating a broadband "logjam", Mr Nolan told an Oireachtas sub-committee that the former semi-state was in fact driving development of high-speed services through the introduction recently of a fixed-rate product in the €50 per month bracket.
Rather than criticising the incumbent for giving precedence to the interests of its shareholders, politicians should focus on stimulating demand for broadband, which remains weak, he said, in a presentation to the information and communications technology sub-committee of the joint committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.
The key challenge was not expanding infrastructure but creating an appetite for high bandwidth applications among the public, said Mr Nolan.
Consumers have embraced mobile phones although they are relatively expensive to use. Substantial numbers will take up broadband only when its benefits are similarly made apparent, he said.
He questioned the viability of offering broadband at a €25 monthly subscription rate, the target set by the sub-committee, which is to recommend ways of widening access to high-speed internet services in a report to Government.
Forcing Eircom to set a below-cost wholesale broadband rate would discourage the company from investing in its network.
Mr Nolan reiterated his insistence that the universal service obligation which requires Eircom to connect remote households should be shared with other telecoms players as the firm is operating in a competitive environment where it no longer accrues 100 per cent of voice call revenues.
Over-regulation of the sector was strangling new development, added Mr Nolan. The current regulatory regime was "unsustainable" as it discouraged new entrants to the market, he said.
Eircom has mounted a High Court challenge to a decision by the communications regulator, ComReg, to reduce charges imposed by the company on competitors for use of its local access network.
Despite widely reported claims to the contrary, broadband prices in the Republic compare favourably with those across Europe, according to Mr Nolan.
Eircom's criticism of the regulatory regime was echoed by the telecommunications and internet federation, a division of employers' body IBEC.
"Operators seek a commercial return. Optimal regulatory intervention should focus on promoting competition in telecom services across all platforms and in promoting investment in telecom infrastructure," said director Mr Tommy McCabe.
