Keith, The contract has some more years to expire I believe. I do not know the exact duration. I am quite sure however that it is still effective.
Sims, Satellite Technologies for broadband will highly unlikely be able to compete viably with terrestrial technologies in areas where terrestrial technologies are available. Hence I doubt that you could do away with a local ISP. Wireless terrestrial technologies are a different story. These technologies are not YET available in mass and at competitive prices but they will provide a reasonable alternative. All in all, however, unless there is a strengthening of the local authorities, it is highly unlikely that there will be any significant new investment in wireless by a third party in the near future. It is actually interesting to read the article on the front page of the Business Weekly of today titled "EC Slams Malta's reform Plan" They state exactly what I have highlighted all the way with regards to competition. This article is good news actually it is a sign that things are slowly moving. The real mover however will always remain the subscriber. It is important that the end user realizes that by subscribing to a monopoly funded ISP, the user is shooting himself in the foot in the medium to long term. Cheers Conrad Keith Vassallo wrote: > I thought the MCA had annulled the contract ISPs had with Datastream, > didn't know it was still effective. Will it be much longer before > contracts start to expire? > > Keith > > On Thu, 2006-01-26 at 15:28 +0100, sims wrote: > >>At 3:08 PM +0100 1/26/06, Conrad Laus wrote: >> >>>Competition issues are not simple but it is globally known that only >>>real competition brings about healthy markets and healthy economies. >>>To my knowledge we have none of these two on the island. High time >>>we pulled our act together before the bubble bursts. >> >>You make very interesting and seemingly informed comments. >> >>Any comment on the possibility of satellite or some extreme wide area >>wifi system from outside Malta making the local 'providers' obsolete? >> >>Pardon the question if it seems naive...this sector is not really my field. >> >>ciao, >>sims >>_______________________________________________ >>MLUG-list mailing list >>[email protected] >>http://mailserv.megabyte.net/mailman/listinfo/mlug-list
