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Yo Comreg, where is me single operator billing and number portability gone.
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25-06-2003 12:31am#1This article at the bottom was on Silicon Republic today register at http://www.siliconrepublic.com/ to view it in there. While Silicon Republic is an excellent site ....it is not possible to link to their stories which is a great shame , become more like The Register lads and ye are made with me.
It tells of how Comreg have completely dropped the ball on Single Billing....you pay ESAT the line rental or UTV for example. Then you need only have one DD per month rather than two and one customer contact point for all problems.
Silicon Republic forgot to mention that number portability has disappeared off the agenda too, that should be an essential adjunct to single billing.
The article also describes the RAT in Winback mode. This is another caper that Comreg benignly tolerates EVEN where Eircom customers have indicated in writing that they do not want ANY promotional material from Eircom. Data Protection my eye. Comreg announced in January or February that they were investigating Winback activities and were so chuffed then that this was on their "own initiative" ...Eircom are actually worse than ever it seems and where is the investigation by Comreg?
There is plenty more for Silicon Republic to report on there, I know they lurk here from time to time. If ye (or anyone else on their own initiative) need to 'investigate' Winback then email the Winback Manager Alan Cox on acox@eircom.ie and ask him where his staff get lists of other operators customer within 24 hours. Surely it isn't a button that Biddy presses when she feels like it. NOBODY in Eircom EVER does anything in under 24 hours except Alan ...its a miracle
, I am not worthy.
It is more fun fun fun if you upgrade to line ISDN and Eircom promptly lose your Netsmart CPS or your UTV setting. You know nothing about it and then an Eircom phone Bill arrives and you find out ALL about the 'Instant Winback'. Alan can sort that mistake out for you within 24 hours you'll be glad to hear. Comreg will wring their hands about the extra bill, at the full per minute rate of course.
Comreg then allowed Eircom to have a line rental increase this month, in part to fund the Single Billing by the end of June.
This means that if you do not have the option of single billing along with FRIACO from the 01/07/03 you are entitled to have the increase in line rental refunded from that date.
Send the demand for the Line Rental Rebate on the day to
phil.nolan@eircom.ie
cc
info@comreg.ie
Its late, I am not linking to the myriad of Comreg documents on all these topics.
FROM SILICONREPUBLIC.COMTelco frustration
at stalled billing plan
24.06.2003 - Telecommunications companies have expressed anger and
frustration at the failure by ComReg and Eircom to implement carrier
pre-select (CPS) single billing by the promised deadline of 2 June. The
Alternative Licence Telecom Operators (ALTO) lobby group said it would
not be surprised if the deadline slipped further into next year.
Along with local loop unbundling, carrier pre-select and single billing
are seen by telcos as one of the major hurdles they face when trying to
get customers to sign up for their services. The advent of single
billing will enable other licensed operators (OLOs) to charge for their
services on one bill, instead of the present situation whereby
customers receive an additional bill from Eircom for line rental on top
of the services from a rival operator. Single billing would allow an
OLO to integrate line rental into the one bill.
In May, the Commissioner for Communications Regulation (ComReg) issued
a statement saying that two single billing products (through wholesale
line rental and through agency rebilling) would be launched on 2 June
following the completion of testing a system that would enable Eircom
to allow OLOs to sign up new customers to single billing. At that stage
the single billing products were a full five months behind schedule,
with earlier launches postponed in January and in April.
According to both Esat BT and ALTO, it appears that Eircom has yet to
submit the terms and conditions for a commercial arrangement for single
billing to exist between the incumbent and OLOs, a document that would
also have to be vetted by ComReg.
This is very frustrating, said Iarla OFlynn, chairman of ALTO. Even if
launched, the service offered by Eircom would be a limited one because
the computers and equipment needed to enable universal single billing
may not be in place until September this year. Even that is not
concrete. The system would be a manual one until that time. Given the
present rate of progress, OLOs I have spoken to say they would not be
surprised if the deadline slipped further into next year.
He continued: This is an unacceptable situation. It seems Eircoms whole
strategy is to hold on to its monopoly position. It is holding off CPS
and at the same time has hiked up line rental twice in the last few
months, bringing an additional 50m into its coffers. Consumers face a
double-whammy they dont have a proper choice for services and at the
same time are facing price rises from Eircom. OLOs have said that the
whole project is causing frustration and disillusionment, five years
into deregulation.
A spokesperson for Esat BT confirmed the growing frustration. Until
single billing comes into place, Eircom still have a monopoly position.
We have been told that by September a single billing infrastructure
that would be fully automated and transitioned would be in place. It
looks very unlikely the way things are going. It is very difficult for
us to attract customers when we have to send them one bill and Eircom
bills them for line rental.
It would be a very big day for us when we can own a customer
end-to-end, the spokesperson continued. It will mean that a major wall
will have come down and we can bill the customer ourselves for line
rental. It will mean we can offer better prices. Eircoms strategy is
stone age and not in the best interests of competition.
The Esat BT spokesperson also hinted at aggressive customer win-back
strategies being employed by Eircom. When a customer wants to switch
phone services, once we notify Eircom about the transfer, within 24
hours Eircom are posting out letters from their marketing department
and contacting our customers. Customers we have signed up end up
returning to Eircom. It is ferociously aggressive. For every 3,000 new
customers we sign up, we lose 2,000 on churn. It will be very hard
going for a licensed operator until single billing is put in place, the
spokesperson told siliconrepublic.com .
Neither ComReg or Eircom could be contacted for comment at the time of
going to press.
M0
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