THE MANAGING director of eBay Ireland declined an invitation to sit on the Department of Communications broadband advisory forum and has also questioned the inclusion of a former Eircom executive.
Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show John McElligott e-mailed the department in December 2007 asking why a biography of US telecoms executive Brian Thompson, which was circulated to prospective members, does not mention the fact that he was on the board of Eircom when it was sold.
"Omitting such matters of potentially key importance will not increase the credibility of the group," says Mr McElligott.
The International Advisory Forum on Broadband held a one-day meeting in Dublin at the end of February to critique the department's draft policy paper on broadband. All travel, accommodation and meal costs for the seven members of the forum were covered and they received €1,500 each for attending the meeting.
At that time, Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said he expected the policy paper to be published "in the coming weeks", but this has not happened. Yesterday, a spokeswoman said it would be published "shortly". Yesterday, Mr McElligott said he was "waiting respectfully" for the policy paper. "We said our piece when it was coming together."
In e-mails to the department, he suggested the forum should have more representation from "customers" - ie, those doing business in Ireland using broadband. He also suggested there should be input from Britain and the Netherlands - "two of the most successful countries in terms of broadband".
The department subsequently provided him with a report from analysts at Current Analysis discussing BT and KPN, the incumbent operators in Britain and the Netherlands.
In a later e-mail sent to Mr Ryan, Mr McElligott revealed eBay has formed a 12-member broadband customer group comprising local e-commerce players and US multinationals based here. In an e-mail last December he suggested the format of such a group to the department.
Later, in February, Mr McElligott forwarded a document entitled " Connectivity Perspective". It outlined his views on the broadband market. It describes Ireland's performance as "woeful" and says "coverage, quality and costs are all unacceptable". The document blames poor execution, and lack of political leadership and government investment for the "current mess".
Suggestions are made, including appointing a minister for broadband and extending the metropolitan area networks programme.
