I thank the Chairman and the members for the opportunity to speak to the committee today on behalf of the Telecommunications and Internet Federation within IBEC. We represent the electronic communications industry. We represent companies involved in fixed, mobile, wireless, fixed wireless, satellite and cable-based provision of services and the outsourcing and Internet service provision organisations.
IBECTIF has more than 70 members. We meet regularly as the TIF council. In addition, there are various industry groups that report to the TIF council. We have the broadband and next generation networks industry group, the cable and broadcasting group, the mobile group, the outsourcing services group, the regulatory affairs group and the telecommunications technology group. We also have several affiliated organisations, being the Irish Cellular Industry Association and the Irish Telecommunications and Security Fraud Forum. We are a fairly broad church.
We are here today to discuss a document compiled by the TIF broadband and next generation networks industry group, the chairman and vice chairman of which are here today also, Mr. John McKeon of Eircom and Mr. Peter Evans of BT, respectively. The members of the broadband and NGN working group are drawn from a wide range of companies within the industry and are named on the list of organisations provided to the committee. As the members can see, there is a broad range of organisations included in the TIF industry working groups.
By way of background, more than 12 months ago, particularly in respect of much general comment in the media on broadband, we set up a broadband working group to identify issues in respect of broadband and to generate more factual information about the true supply and nature of broadband in Ireland. Following that, the industry group set up the TIF broadband and NGN industry group to set out a goal to look beyond the current issues and difficulties to try to make a clear plan for the future of the development of NGNs in Ireland. This was a critical issue for our industry and we wanted to achieve consensus and an industry-wide approach.
Much work was done behind the scenes and it was not a quick process. The original chairperson of the group was Mr. Andy McLeod from Eircom and the vice chairman Mr. Mike Maloney of BT. They took the process forward and it was completed by Mr. John McKeon from Eircom and Mr. Peter Evans of BT. There was also a significant contribution from other members of the working group.
Our vision is of an industry that delivers functionality, value and choice to our customers, an attractive return to our investors and a 21st century network to our nation to support and drive continued economic prosperity. To deliver this vision for the development of NGN services we need the confidence and faith of the underlying public policy framework. Our principles are a number of touchstones to guide decision making, to test initiatives taken at industry, regulatory and public policy level and to act as a reference point and a decision making aid for policy makers and regulators. In the current environment, in which many policy decisions are being made for the future of industry, we felt we needed to provide useful input to the policy making process.
There are eight principles. The first three are about what we hope to achieve and they recognise consumer choice, competitive pricing and equal access, which are vitally important to the success of next generation networks. The principle of consumer choice embodies a belief that all consumers should have a range of innovative telecommunications and infotainment services, delivered by multiple competing service providers to an educated and informed residential and business market place. We believe the power of customer choice is pre-eminent and that is why it is our first principle.
The second principle is one of equal access. This means that standard services should be available to all customers and for all businesses. Baseline services should be available everywhere but standard services must be provided within reason. Our third principle is that of effective and sustainable competition leading to competitively priced standard services, targeting below the European average benchmark having regard to relevant costs and purchasing power in the Irish economy. We set aggressive targets and it is our shared ambition to be in the upper quarter of the OECD results by 2012. We have a great deal of catching up to do but believe that, with consensus at industry level and good engagement with policy makers and regulators, we can achieve this together.
The second group of three principles states the industry is willing to do its share by investing in infrastructure within the correct policy context and with the appropriate support. It should be acknowledged that the industry is investing more than €700 million per annum in infrastructure, which I am sure the committee will agree is investment on a very significant scale. The fourth principle, the second in this group, is that of corporate responsibility, which is self-explanatory. We will do our utmost to accommodate the disadvantaged and those with disabilities and ensure those who are vulnerable are protected from the negative effects of technological developments.
The fifth principle is support for a national economic strategy and states we will do everything to deliver the full range and quality of services, to be agreed between the industry and Government, necessary to support and underpin the national economic development plan. We will comply with the full suite of characteristics and capabilities defined in internationally recognised open technical standards including, but not limited to, the ITU-T and ETSI standards.
Our sixth principle is the principle of investment, innovation and research. It envisages a financially robust industry capable of and commercially incentivised to invest in innovative and leading edge infrastructure and services and to conduct appropriate local research to support its vision. We believe a strong industry is an important foundation for the development of NGN capability. To invest as an industry we need a long-term, clear Government policy and strategy because we need clarity before we can make long-term investments.
The last two principles outline how industry believes the regulator should play its part. Industry believes it should first try to solve its own difficulties and the regulator should only step in when appropriate. The principle of appropriate regulatory context states the industry should work by consensus with regulation to deliver, as appropriate, transparent and flexible wholesale processes and services, including effective switching mechanisms, suitably benchmarked wholesale prices, acceptable wholesale SLAs and appropriate returns for wholesale providers. Regulation should, where required, act as a proxy for competition where significant market power exists.
The final principle states we believe the real expertise for the future of technology industry lies within the industry and industry should lead the way. Industry is ready to step forward and take the lead and has the capability, knowledge and expertise to do so in a proper context. The principles represent a significant step because, in industry, it is unusual to find common ground among competitors with different approaches but we have striven for and achieved that. It only marks the beginning of the NGN journey and we hope this document will act as a catalyst for further discussions, policy developments and decisions on the future of our industry. We look forward to engaging with all the relevant bodies, including this committee, in seeking to apply these principles.