Eire breaks through the Tariff Wall (18 October 1998) Telecom Éireann has announced that it is to offer an unmetered local call rate for Internet users: see a news story in the Irish Times. This is the most significant development since CUT’s inception. Telecom Éireann is state-owned, so the Eire Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke, acted in the long-term interest of the country rather than the short-term interest of shareholders. She, like us, notes that, without unmetered access, European countries will not be able to sustain e-commerce or effective educational use of the Internet. Unmetered access is technically possible. It’s financially necessary. It’s socially desirable. And by Christmas it’ll be enjoyed by our next door neighbours. It’s as simple as that. We commend Ms O’Rourke for encouraging Telecom Éireann to take an astonishingly bold step - Eire is the first known country to move from metered to unmetered access - and we have written to OFTEL and several other Government bodies and telecommunications operators in this country. Replies are awaited with interest: see here for the text of our letter. We wonder how much longer OFTEL, BT and the cable operators will be able to hold out. What with the Eire announcement, the Matson interview, Peter Cochrane's startling technical revelations and Europe-wide pressure for unmetered access, such access is surely now when, not if.