Eircom Robbers!

**John83** · 08/12/2004, 5:26 PM

Originally Posted by Conor74

But the problem was they employed all these experts in the business world at enormous cost when clearly they should have asked you...

Does the government know that experts on taxation, the communications sector and even the correct width of a LUAS line all post on Foot.ie. It's just like a meeting of taxi drivers...

What "experts"? Any why did these "experts" make such a complete ******** the telecoms market here?

Can you explain a good reason to make the LUAS trams incompatable with every other system in the country? (Am I right in thinking that this includes eachother?)

I've yet to see someone here claim that a taxation policy was ilconsidered, just unfair. Fair taxation is a concept outside the scope of us ordinary plebs, eh?

**John83** · 08/12/2004, 5:55 PM

Originally Posted by Conor74

It's just sooooooooooo easy to knock though. Everything's wrong. I had assumed the Luas lines were the way they were because some engineers decided that this was the correct way to do it. Alternatively, maybe they just did it for the hell of it to annoy people like you. Clearly you suspect that it is impossible that there would be a valid reason for it...

It's even easier to defend things on blind faith.

**dahamsta** · 08/12/2004, 6:07 PM

Originally Posted by Conor74

But the problem was they employed all these experts in the business world

Fox, meet Henhouse. (Or "You can get any answer you want if you look for the person who'll give it to you.")

As I said clearly in my post, I'm not an expert, I'm an amateur. The fact that I saw what was going to happen - do a search on my handle on Boards.ie if you'd like proof - and they didn't speaks volumes about just how clever and balanced Fianna F�il's philosophy and policies actually are.

adam

**patsh** · 08/12/2004, 7:12 PM

Believe it or not, I have to defend, to a certain extent, the sale of eircom.
The only party in that sale that really mattered was us, the public, who had contributed so much of our tax money to the company over the years. I don't know enough about the business or economics end of things to say whether the way it was done was good or bad, but I do believe that the taxpayer got just about the best price we could for it, and thats all that really mattered in the sale.
Now anybody who complains about the subsequent performace of the share price can just p*ss off, as far as I'm concerned, because that the way the capitalist market system works. You paid your money hoping to make some more and the risk did not work out, so, tough.
I do believe that there are questions have to be asked of the post-flotation management as to how the mobile side of the business made so much money for such a small group when sold off for what turned out to be a serious under-valuation, but thats a matter for the shareholders.
As a (forced) customer of this sh*te company, I wish the present Government would get the finger out, however, and through the regulator, do something about opening up line rental to other companies.

**dahamsta** · 08/12/2004, 7:39 PM

Originally Posted by Conor74

You also said FF did it for greed.

Nah, I didn't. I said Fianna F�il are "greed-driven hacks". It was more of a generalisation. I can see how one could make the assocation though.

Personally, I'd trace problems in the telecommunications industry right back to the FitzGerald era in the 80s

You mean when Ireland led the world with it's telecommunications infrastructure? (That would be the infrastructure that's still there btw, rotting under Eircom's ownership.)

adam