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Enough is enough
No. This has absolutely nothing to do with the General Workers’
Union campaign against the budget measures. However, this phrase
is certainly relevant to what is happening in the local Internet
sector.
Over the past week, we have seen the ISPs action committee and
Video On Line at loggerheads after the former signed an interconnection
agreement to set up an ATM local backbone that does not include
VOL. On the one hand, Video On Line and MITTS have been experiencing
numerous access problems and their users have found it nearly
impossible to receive email. In reply, the ISPs action committee
have hit out at allegations made that some of the members on
the committee were restricting access and preventing email from
being delivered. They have denied such allegations saying that
the problems being experienced by VOL and MITTS users are due
to the fact that VOL are not on the backbone. Without going
into the merits of who is right or wrong – this is not
the media’s role – one cannot continue to remain passive
in front of a situation that could have serious implications
on the industry.
While VOL and the ISPs continue to argue, the fact remains that
the users are still suffering. In a report carried in Wednesday’s
The Malta Independent, David Thake said that it was not true
that all Internet users were being affected. We beg to differ.
Whatever the reasons for the present impasse, there is no doubt
that users with all ISPs are having problems.
Since VOL and MITTS users could not receive email since Monday
afternoon, this means that many subscribers with the other ISPs
could not send email to colleagues or clients who are hosted
at VOL. To give an example, if a company A is hosted at Waldonet
or Terranet and wants to send an email to 50 clients hosted
at VOL, the chances are this email will either not arrive or
else turn up 24 hours later. This is not acceptable.
We are living in an age where electronic access and email have
become essential items. Irrespective of which party is to blame,
a service that many have come to expect to be as efficient as
any other essential service, is not being given.
What are the competent authorities doing?
When the ISPs announced the interconnection agreement at a press
conference, The Malta Business Weekly had carried a story saying
that the Telecommunications Regulator was studying the legality
of such an agreement. Last Thursday, a complaint was filed with
the Regulator after VOL started having problems. A week later,
the Regulator has not come out with a statement, at least to
say that the dispute is being tackled with immediacy and a decision
will be taken shortly.
As things are, it seems that the Office of the Regulator is
simply waiting for something else to happen. It could be that
he is waiting until the Telecommunications Authority is set
up on 1 January and Joe Tabone will take over as Regulator.
Yet what is going to happen in the next two weeks? Will users
continue to suffer? Will both parties continue arguing, hoping
that a decision will be taken in their favour?
This newspaper has repeatedly called on the Office of the Regulator
to take a more active and immediate stand when such disputes
arise. We do not expect him to reach a decision in a day or
two, however he should have called an urgent meeting with the
parties concerned and gathered as much information as possible.
Sending letters and waiting for a reply does not help much.
Malta does nicely in Nice
There was good news at the weekend for Malta following the
conclusion of the Nice European Union summit.
After hours of talks, the EU member States finally agreed on
a new treaty, concluded the Intergovernmental Conference, and
given the go-ahead for enlargement of the Union. It is also
good news that EU leaders were quite positive that some of the
EU applicant countries could make it into the Union before the
European elections which will be held in June 2004.
This means that Malta – already considered a leader of
the pack of applicant countries – could find itself among
those joining between 2003 and 2004, subject to successful negotiations
on accession. The much-awaited summit also concluded that each
country could have its own European Commissioner. Of greater
importance is that agreement was reached over the re-weighting
of votes of each member State. Malta was given three votes in
the council of Ministers.
With regards to the number of MEPs that the candidate countries
would be entitled to upon accession, Malta was given five compared
to six for Luxembourg, Cyprus and Estonia.
All in all, not a bad deal for Malta and this augurs well for
the country’s future in the EU on joining.
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