EIRCOM SHOULD receive no Government support for investing in next-generation fibre-optic networks, according to the managing director of mobile operator 3 Ireland.

Robert Finnegan said Eircom “shouldn’t be running to the Government” for investment and should instead focus on upgrading its core network and selling wholesale services to other providers.

Mr Finnegan said the telecoms industry would like to see Eircom upgrade 60 per cent of its network to next-generation status. He said newer technologies such as mobile broadband could then be used for the “last mile” to reach homes and businesses.

The new Eircom chief executive Paul Donovan called for greater industry collaboration at a recent industry conference. “The worst thing we could do would be to repeat the sins of 3G where everybody in the mobile space built their own network,” he told delegates. “There’s an industry discussion every time there’s a new CEO at Eircom, which is quite often; we’ve had four or five in the last six or seven years,” said Mr Finnegan. “These executives come in from overseas and tell us what is best for Ireland. The current one doesn’t seem to be any different.”

Eircom points out that it has spent €1.1 billion on capital expenditure in the last three years. Mr Finnegan said this was being offset by the figure of almost €400 million a year that Eircom is booking in its accounts for depreciation of its assets. While others in the industry welcomed the proposed purchase of Eircom by Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT), Mr Finnegan points out that the subsidiary of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund does not have any experience in the European telecoms market.

Mr Finnegan also raised concerns about how STT will service Eircom’s €3.8 billion of debt, €1.3 billion of which matures in 2014, in what he describes as a “declining market”.