eircom in dnager of being destroyed - union leader claims

ednwireland

Todays irish times 02/07/03

Eircom was in danger of being destroyed by comreg a trade union leader claimed yesterday.
in an attack on comreg mr con scanlon said that eircom and an post were victims of heavy handed regulatory aproach which made it imposible for them to manage their businesses

mr scanlon, general seceratary of the communications workers union, told the conference that the experience of regulation differed between sectors. Unions in the ESB for example, might not have the concerns of workers in anpost and eircom.

"one regulator on the face of it has adopted a policy of change and sustainable competition; the other has embarked on a course that will eventually destroy Eircom."
his comments were rejected by eircom which said it had a statutory obligation to regulate the telecommunications sector. and did so with "objectivity, integrity and impartiality."

Mr Scanlon said comreg had said eircom was "60 per cent inefficient", but had offered no scientific basis for this view.

A spokesman for Comreg mr tom butler, said the charge that it had embarked on a course that would destroy eircom was "patently untrue"

end article


Whaaaaat someone a member of this tossers union fancy sending him a few facts i should say eircom workers should be worried, i'd be worried if i worked in the most overstaffed telco in europe

Mr_Man

It is not often you'll see IBEC and the Unions on the same side but both have been having a go at Comreg over the past day or so. Comreg must be doing something right if it is offending all of these 'interested' parties.

M.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by ednwireland
"one regulator on the face of it has adopted a policy of change and sustainable competition; the other has embarked on a course that will eventually destroy Eircom."

What he is concerned about is that Eircom might become just another telco as opposed to a near-monopoly.

Sadly for the consumer, this is some way off.

Scottish

I often think that the Unions here are missing an opportunity to be more progressive and model themselves on their German couterparts, rather than the British Unions of the 70's and 80's.

Being left of centre in my politics it pains me to say it, but the unions here are so focused on pushing the short term interests of their members that they miss the fact that they cause the greater population enormous damage and pain.

As in transport, now in telcos it would seem. I don't think the government has the bottle, but it seems like Eircom and their supportive union (how bizarre is that?) need to be faced down for the greater good of the country as a whole.

Dangger

And so it begins........

The union will obviously be the most vocal. I disagree that Eircom stands to be destroyed, but it could certianly do with some serious restructuring and blaming ComReg and the government is the obvious choice and an easy target, but in this case the union must look closer to home.

What of Eircom's style of senior management, it's blinkered jaunt through the dust more proactive and successful telecom operators (even incumbent ones!) have left behind them.
The union must have had the foresight to see what this would all lead to. A bloated telecoms company, a government constantly slated for it's country's appalling telecommunications services and infrastructrure, the evidence has been plain to see for years.

The current Eircom owners did the deal themselves with the union (ESOT), and now cry to the government saying they cannot reduce staff numbers because the union protects them! They want renumeration for their inefficiencies and inability to deal with their own problems!

The Minister's recent comments on the ESB and how if they want to go private they can do so but without ownership of the infrastructure shows how far the government have come in learning from the Eircom debacle. It also looks like he will continue to turn the screws until the situation improves dramatically.

With real movement by a Minister who can see through the spin and spoof, and a regulatory body (ComReg) who have been granted more power to improve the situation Eircom must be noting the change.

And so are we! The past 3 months alone have seen more change in the provision of Internet access services in this country than almost the past 3 years:

* 50% cut in DSL costs
* the smashing of the metered dial up cash cow
* a broadband levy on operators to ensure schools have broadband connectivity
* growing wirelesss operator product availability

The times are definitely a changin'. Yet Eircom will continue to fight until the bitter end. Right now they are in court with ComReg over LLU pricing, they slate every report into their operations, they blame the people of Ireland for the lack of broadband saying we are not interested, they confuse people with pathetic advertisement of their hi-speed and broadband services, rip businesses off with extortionate costs for web hosting offering pathetic support.........

Their union is a great weapon and one with a loud voice. Yet this union have had large redundancy packages available for some time for the Eircom staff, take up has been low.

Brace yourselves.

PiE

There's nothing they can say that IOFFL can't resonably and logically refute.

It's just a matter of getting as much airtime and column inches as they undoubtedly will

Fallschirmjager

here is guy wishing we were back in the 'cosy' 70's and the 'gangers' of 20 people to install a phone....


God, it it wasnt going to have an effect it would be funny...but i bet we will have a response...

you know something is wrong when a union and eircom are saying the same thing...

nahdoic

Well that sounded like a rallying war cry from our chairman, if ever I heard one.

Batton down the hatches ladies and gents. Things are about to get interesting.

This day was inevitable.

::cue the braveheart music::

flav0rflav

Originally posted by Mr_Man
It is not often you'll see IBEC and the Unions on the same side but both have been having a go at Comreg over the past day or so.

I could find no reference to IBEC statements about Comreg in the past few days?

The unions still own 20-30% of eircom, right?

MDR

Couple of references

Future Delivery Of Broadband in Ireland Page 19 (Lines Per Employee).

Sunday Business Post 08/06/2003 Eircom and regulator battle on

Although Eircom has reduced staff numbers from 13,500 to 8,500, the scale of the reduction reflects the inefficiency of the former stateowned company rather than any significant progress. Eircom's manning levels ^ at 178 lines per employee ^ are four times that of the more efficient European operators.

The unions are going to be very vocal as they have a vested internest in maintaining Eircom's inefficency. I tried calling them late last year but they didn't want to know me. I suspect that every Eircom employee will be around to see his local TD to climb on COMREG's back ....

sceptre

Eircom's manning levels ^ at 178 lines per employee ^ are four times that of the more efficient European operators.

... which would make them 75% inefficient rather than 60%. Looks like Comreg are even being diplomatic about the figure.

Eurorunner

The unions interests have been pointed out above, but i dont understand what IBEC get out of maintaining €ircons dominant position?
Surely they should have the opposite view?

Anyone?

MDR

but i dont understand what IBEC get out of maintaining €ircons dominant position?

Eircom is a major contributor to IBEC's coffers ...
they all give quite a few quite to the Irish Small Business association ....

Both these organistations regularily tow the 'Party Line' ...

tribble

The unions still own 20-30% of eircom, right?

Employee Share Option Scheme (ESOP) owns 14.9 per cent and institutional shareholders own about 20 per cent. The value of which is substantially less than what it originally was - but thats a side issue.

The unions are going to be very vocal as they have a vested internest in maintaining Eircom's inefficency. I tried calling them late last year but they didn't want to know me. I suspect that every Eircom employee will be around to see his local TD to climb on COMREG's back ....

The value of their investment is substantially less than what it originally was - it's less than a years wages per employee. They also see no benifit until they leave. That's nothing to a guy in his late forties who can't afford to leave Eircom because of his age and market conditions.


It's true that certain sectors Eircom are badly managed (sales, installation etc.) but others are very professional (Mechanical/Electrical etc.).
When was the last time you're phone landline died during a poweroutage or a load transfer?
Probably never, because the guys who manage that know what their doing.

tribble

LFCFan

unfortunatly like most things in life, a company is only as strong as it's weakest link. So, get rid of the biddies and the useless managers and it should make them more effective. In a perfect world that is.

sceptre

Originally posted by tribble
It's true that certain sectors Eircom are badly managed (sales, installation etc.) but others are very professional (Mechanical/Electrical etc.).
When was the last time you're phone landline died during a poweroutage or a load transfer?
Probably never, because the guys who manage that know what their doing.

I think we've pretty much all agreed from time to time that the technical people in Eircom as a rule are very professional (both at the corporate and residential ends). Installations are professional as a rule, installation management (as in actually getting someone to install the line within their own 10 working day limit) is terrible (a management problem). The technical staff from what used to be TEIS are very professional and very interested in customer satisfaction, at least frmo any dealings I've had with them.

Assuming the above to be true (and having done the fair and true comment wrt the professional side of the operation), feel free to carry on about the mis-managed side.

Eurorunner

Eircom is a major contributor to IBEC's coffers ...

Thanks for the info Ray.


IBEC are supporting €ircon - an organisation which is making one aspect of the operational costs of their (IBECs) members businesses much higher.


That mystical old irish logic never dies...:rolleyes:

dahamsta

IrelandOffline should send out a press release. Just one word, writ large:

Good.

Plus maybe in small print, near the bottom:

EsatBT? You're next.

adam

shinzon

Originally posted by Dangger
And so it begins........

The union will obviously be the most vocal. I disagree that Eircom stands to be destroyed, but it could certianly do with some serious restructuring and blaming ComReg and the government is the obvious choice and an easy target, but in this case the union must look closer to home.

What of Eircom's style of senior management, it's blinkered jaunt through the dust more proactive and successful telecom operators (even incumbent ones!) have left behind them.
The union must have had the foresight to see what this would all lead to. A bloated telecoms company, a government constantly slated for it's country's appalling telecommunications services and infrastructrure, the evidence has been plain to see for years.

The current Eircom owners did the deal themselves with the union (ESOT), and now cry to the government saying they cannot reduce staff numbers because the union protects them! They want renumeration for their inefficiencies and inability to deal with their own problems!

The Minister's recent comments on the ESB and how if they want to go private they can do so but without ownership of the infrastructure shows how far the government have come in learning from the Eircom debacle. It also looks like he will continue to turn the screws until the situation improves dramatically.

With real movement by a Minister who can see through the spin and spoof, and a regulatory body (ComReg) who have been granted more power to improve the situation Eircom must be noting the change.

And so are we! The past 3 months alone have seen more change in the provision of Internet access services in this country than almost the past 3 years:

* 50% cut in DSL costs
* the smashing of the metered dial up cash cow
* a broadband levy on operators to ensure schools have broadband connectivity
* growing wirelesss operator product availability

The times are definitely a changin'. Yet Eircom will continue to fight until the bitter end. Right now they are in court with ComReg over LLU pricing, they slate every report into their operations, they blame the people of Ireland for the lack of broadband saying we are not interested, they confuse people with pathetic advertisement of their hi-speed and broadband services, rip businesses off with extortionate costs for web hosting offering pathetic support.........

Their union is a great weapon and one with a loud voice. Yet this union have had large redundancy packages available for some time for the Eircom staff, take up has been low.

Brace yourselves.

Dannger ive been waiting for you to up the ante and this is the more ballsy style and approach im looking for in ioffl in the future, way to go m8 more of that please

regards
Shin

MadsL

^What dahamsta said.
Word.
Amen.