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7 July 2008
Smart move with ESB network
Smart Telecom which at one time appeared to be not so smart telecom after having clients
cut off by Eircom would appear to have weathered that storm with news that they have
successfully negotiated a three year deal with ESB Telecoms to provide 10 Gbps broadband.

This would allow Smart a potential market not just in excess of their current share but
several times their current target market.

The services would be available to business and domestic users. After the deal, the main
barriers facing Smart telecom are regulatory rather than technical. While regulation
may indeed pose a threat it is likely that given the need for increased broadband and
competition opportunities in the industry, the required increae in Smart telecoms local
loop unbundling should not be a major difficulty.

With rumours abound not so long ago about Smart telecoms upcoming demise, it would
appear that the critics have been silenced by the paradox of Smart telecom surviving
the boom and now entering a phase of great expansion at the start of what many would
call the start of the recession. Watch this space.