IT Usage

Information Technology in Ireland

IT Usage Trends

Eircom, formerly Telecom Eireann and formerly Ireland's state-controlled telephone monopoly, is jigging its way through the minefields of deregulation: The nation's telecom market was opened in 1998. While not the only provider of telecommunications infrastructure, Eircom operates 1.5 million phone lines, its Eircell unit provides mobile phone service to 645,000 customers, and Eirpage has 30,000 paging customers. The company also offers provides Internet access and related interactive services. It has agreed to sell its 75% stake in Cablelink, Ireland's #1 cable TV operator, to NTL. KPN and Telia jointly hold a 35% stake in eircom, which they are selling. The government sold its 50.1% stake in the company in 1999 in the largest privatization in Irish history. Source: Hoover's Company Profiles ¹³

                  Population:                                        3.52 million
                  Total Households:                              1.1 million
                  Total TV Households                         1.05 million
                  No. of Cable Operators:                      7
                  Homes passed by cable:                      950,000
                  Homes subscribed to cable:                 585,000
                  Homes subscribing to DTH/SMATV:   110,000
                  Phone Lines Installed:                         1.11 million
                    (as of 10/27/99)

Source: Inside Cable & Telecoms Europe Datafiles ¹⁴

Amárach Consulting's white paper, EIR-Commerce, offers a detailed view of the state of e-commerce in Ireland. Commerce on the Web, axiomatically, depends on access to the Web. The following chart from the white paper illustrates the rapid growth projected for Ireland's Internet usage. Currently at 15% of the population, Internet usage in Ireland is rapidly approaching that of the U.K., estimated currently at 23%. Of this 15% of the population, 49% of Irish Net-surfers access the Internet from home, 34% log on at work, and another 28% do so from educational facilities. Some of these users access the Internet from multiple locations, accounting for a total greater than 100%. In the U.K., 62% of users access the Internet from home.

As a basis of comparison, the following graph demonstrates relative use of e-commerce facilities in Ireland and in the neighboring U.K.

For an in-depth view of Internet usage by households and business in Ireland, please download Amárach Consulting's white paper, EIR-Commerce in PDF format.¹⁶

Telecommunications Infrastructure	Privatization & Deregulation	Electronic Commerce	Hardware Manufacturing	Software Development
IT Usage & Trends	IT Labor Market	IT Geographics	IT Financing	Government Policies
Legal Environment	Analysis: IT Strengths & Weaknesses	Analysis: Impacts on Business	Sources & Links	About the Authors

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Last update: December 17, 1999 by ED/MM