ANALYSIS:The Minister sees his task as creating a competitive broadband environment, writes John Collins

THE TABLE of senior Eircom executives who attended the Telecoms Industry Federation charity ball in Dublin's Four Seasons hotel last night are unlikely to have enjoyed their dinner.

Although Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan is likely to have previously informed them of his decision not to provide them with funding, it can't have been comfortable hearing the news broken to a room full of competitors.

The long-awaited next generation broadband strategy paper from the Department of Communications is expected to be published in the next few weeks.

This will set out Mr Ryan's vision of how high-speed broadband can be delivered in Ireland.

Details of Eircom's Fibre Ireland proposal, in which it sought €150 million in State support for broadband roll-out, leaked to the press over a month ago. Clearly concerned that uncertainty about that proposal would stall investments from other players, Mr Ryan moved relatively quickly to rule out the prospect of State support to Eircom.

The question now is how will Ireland improve its broadband infrastructure and who will make the investments.

Last October, a survey of its members by the Telecoms Industry Federation suggested private firms will spend over €3.2 billion in telecoms infrastructure over the next five years.

The credit crunch and fears of a recession make it unlikely that level of investment will transpire.

Mr Ryan believes it is his job to create a competitive environment and the private sector will deliver the services required.

For his part, the Minister will invest in developing online public services that will stimulate public demand for broadband.

It will also invest in telecoms assets in cases where regions of the country are at risk of falling behind.

The industry will now look to the publication of the strategy paper on next generation broadband for guidance.

Eircom executives are clearly not going to rush into a decision regarding their future investment strategy.

Given the financial pressure its majority owner, Babcock and Brown, is under, it is unlikely it will make a major once-off investment such as the one proposed in Fibre Ireland.

In addition to the round of consolidations currently taking place between telecoms companies, the summer months promise to be a busy one for the sector.