Flat-rate internet access should be here by July if the timetable decided by the Commission for Communications this week is met.
The Commission's decision to force Eircom to allow rivals to offer a service - which it has consistently opposed as uneconomic - was a good one, if long overdue.
The success of lobby groups like IrelandOffline and Eircomtribunal.com demonstrate there is a public appetite for the service.
And the intervention of the Minister for Communications has clearly strengthened the Commission's resolve to force Eircom to offer flat-rate internet to its rivals.
But don't bank on a summer of unlimited internet surfing just yet. The honeymoon period enjoyed by Eircom and the Commission since Dr Phil Nolan took over at Eircom may come to a grisly end in the courts over the issue.
Eircom believes the Commission may not have the legal power to force it to offer rivals a service it does not want to introduce itself.
And just last year the Office of the Director of Telecoms Regulation did not believe it could either.
The commissioners will be banking on the interpretation of new EU directives due to come into force in July to beat a potential legal challenge by Eircom.
But as the mobile group Meteor learned in the 1990s, legal action can seriously delay some plans.
The internet community, Government and business can only hope this doesn't happen, as cheap flat-rate access has the potential to change Irish internet culture
Statistics show Irish people use the Web on average for 3.5 hours per month, compared with 11 hours for Americans and seven hours by the British. It is hardly a coincidence that both states have a cheap flat monthly rate internet at about €27.
And less time spent online also undermines e-commerce. Just 7 per cent of people frequently buy on the internet and half the population have never bought anything.
Obviously not a great ratio for the "e-commerce hub" of Europe, and hardly likely to create a strong indigenous e-commerce sector.
Flat-rate dial-up internet would remove the fear of building huge phone bills from staying online. It may also promote home-working and develop an internet culture. Will Eircom spoil the party?
