Journalists misleading their readers again!

zz03

In this morning’s Irish Times Barry O’Halloran writes about eircom: “The company has so far rolled out 860,000 broadband lines, which it says is "well over half" what is needed to cover the country as a whole”.

No reduction in monthly DSL charges (as one had been expecting) either – just a limited time promo offer on wholesale “installation charges”.

Pathetic.

zz..

nahdoic

Alright people, I think it's time for re-edumication. It works so well.

Where's the article, what's the editor's email address and what's the journalist's email address?

Eurorunner

Sounds like another opportunity to turn the negative into a positive:D .
Can someone post the article...cant get it as i'm not an ireland.com/irish times subscriber.


This is as much as i can get here

Consumers to benefit as Eircom cuts cost of broadband
Eircom plans to slash wholesale broadband connection fees by €130 in a promotion aimed at dramatically increasing the numbers signed up to the high-speed service. The move could lead to free connection offers for consumers.

____

The rest of the article is subscription only...

zz03

Consumers to benefit as Eircom cuts cost of broadband
By Barry O'Halloran

bohalloran@irish-times.ie


Eircom plans to slash wholesale broadband connection fees by €130 in a promotion aimed at dramatically increasing the numbers signed up to the high-speed service. The move could lead to free connection offers for consumers.

The company will today unveil a three-month promotion that will see it cut the wholesale broadband connection charge from €150 to €20. The immediate beneficiaries will be the licensed operators supplying broadband services to businesses and consumers, and Eircom's retail arm. The connection fee is a once-off payment.

The company's commercial director, Mr David McRedmond, told The Irish Times that Eircom hoped the independent operators would pass on the benefit of the reduction to subscribers. He said the deal was aimed at increasing the pace at which Irish people have been signing up to broadband.

Currently, there are 10,000 broadband users in this country. Eircom wants this increased to 100,000 across both its own and the independent operators' customer bases by the end of 2005. The company has so far rolled out 860,000 broadband lines, which it says is "well over half" what is needed to cover the country as a whole.

The offer, which it is making available for an initial three months, will apply to all lines and all operators. At the weekend, some sources suggested that the independent players may go as far as offering free connection to new customers.

Mr McRedmond said that as the company had spare broadband capacity, the cost of the offer was not an issue. "If we get good take-up, then we are building revenue streams for the future, and we believe it's worthwhile investing in that now," he said. The company would review the offer at the end of the three-months and then make a decision about its next step, he added.

Eircom is hoping that two factors will drive a good response to the offer. The first is that internet use increases in the autumn, partly because schools and colleges return. The second is the usual increase in consumer spending that precedes Christmas.

Broadband gives high-speed access to the internet and data services. Internet use is now beginning to overtake telephone calls as the primary use for fixed telephone lines.

This week's quarterly market report from the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) showed that 40 per cent of all Irish fixed-line traffic during the three months to the end of June was internet use, while telephone calls accounted for 39 per cent of traffic.

flamegrill

Originally posted by zz03
In this morning’s Irish Times Barry O’Halloran writes about eircom: “The company has so far rolled out 860,000 broadband lines, which it says is "well over half" what is needed to cover the country as a whole”.

No reduction in monthly DSL charges (as one had been expecting) either – just a limited time promo offer on wholesale “installation charges”.

Pathetic.

zz..

On the up side, this may have been stopped by comreg. As the wholesale price wasn't going to be reduced and therefore other operators couldn't drop their price.

I think that this will put the drive on to lower the wholesale rate before the end of the year to at least 20 euro.

Bit of a dissapointment but what ya gona do.

Paul

Eurorunner

Email sent to editor@irish-times.com , cc'ed to bohalloran@irish-times.ie.


Same rules as before..if we can get a large enough reaction, i'm sure theres some good publicity for IOFFL and negative press for €ircon to be had in this.

Sar!

What I wanna know is when does all this stop??????....I mean eircom will pick up the few individuals who dont mind paying over the odds along the way while they continue to try to work out their pricing structure....but why dont they just cut to the chase then we can all be happy....that includes them!!

If theyd just realise they would get far more business if they came in line with the rest of Europe, do away with a connection fee, do away with capping and charge a reasonable monthly rate!!!

Until then we shall continue to moan and groan....it seems to me they dunno what to be charging and well overcharged in the first place and now there in a situation where they are getting there but are still not quite sure what they are meant to be doing....kind sounds typical of this country .....
:mad:

Eurorunner

Originally posted by Sar!
What I wanna know is when does all this stop??????....I mean eircom will pick up the few individuals who dont mind paying over the odds along the way while they continue to try to work out their pricing structure....but why dont they just cut to the chase then we can all be happy....that includes them!!

If theyd just realise they would get far more business if they came in line with the rest of Europe, do away with a connection fee, do away with capping and charge a reasonable monthly rate!!!

Until then we shall continue to moan and groan....it seems to me they dunno what to be charging and well overcharged in the first place and now there in a situation where they are getting there but are still not quite sure what they are meant to be doing....kind sounds typical of this country .....
:mad:

They're not interested in being progressive..why should they when they can hold the country to ransom. It could potentially bring about their own demise but the shareholders will have made more than a tidy profit by then anyway.

As regards when does it stop, thats up to all of us. Remember, as bad as things are now, if it wasnt for IOFFL, we could still be in the ludicrous scenario of not even having some form of flat rate dial-up access now.

GoneShootin

Eurorunner, could I see a copy of the email that you sent ?

Sar!

Remember, as bad as things are now, if it wasnt for IOFFL, we could still be in the ludicrous scenario of not even having some form of flat rate dial-up access now.

Absolutely!!!! and all praise to IOFFL but however arent we all a little sick and tired of having to fight to get the service we are all entitled to!!???

As much as I am all for standing up to get the service sometimes I feel the little person(s) really is completely ignored....
IOFFL certainly do not get the publicity they should be getting and therefore will this go on for years and years??? And at that stage there will be some other form of internet service we will all be campaigning for???

Eurorunner

Originally posted by Sar!
however arent we all a little sick and tired of having to fight to get the service we are all entitled to!!???

agreed...but is there any other way?

Originally posted by Sar!

And at that stage there will be some other form of internet service we will all be campaigning for???

more than likely, yes.

Originally posted by GoneShootin Eurorunner, could I see a copy of the email that you sent ?

Dear Sirs,



Ref.: Article - 'Consumers to benefit as Eircom cuts cost of broadband'



I read with interest the article titled ‘Consumers to benefit as Eircom cuts cost of broadband’ by Barry O’Halloran in todays (15/09/03) Irish Times. With regard to this article, I would like to bring a number of points to your/your readerships’ attention;





Firstly, I welcome the move by Eircom to reduce the broadband installation fee, albeit that it’s a tiny step in the right direction. However, the reality is that in the case of telecoms services - as we have seen in so many other areas of irish business - the irish consumer is being held to ransom. Eircom have control of the telecoms infrastructure throughout the country – resulting in an anti-competitive situation. It is laughable that David McRedmond of Eircom hopes ‘the independent operators would pass on the benefit of the reduction to subscribers’. The independent operators can only resell Eircoms DSL services due to their stranglehold on the infrastructure. This means that they must put together their product pricing based on the exorbitant wholesale rates that Eircom itself has set. There is no doubt in my mind but that the resellers would offer reduced rates if it was within their power to do so.



Equally cynical is this ‘promotion’ by Eircom – which according to your article is to last for three months. In the majority of cases, operators in all other European countries charge little if anything in the way of ADSL installation charges. This coupled with the fact that we have the highest line rental charges in the whole of Europe and above average monthly broadband charges suggest that Eircom is far from earnest in the provision of broadband services to the irish consumer.



The monthly broadband service charge of approx. €54.50 is again, well above the European average. Rollout of broadband services in other European States (rollouts which were initiated long before Eircom felt compelled to do so) have shown that at a trigger level of on average - €30, consumers will then sign up in their thousands. Even the Communications Regulator (ComReg) itself has identified that the monthly charge is far too high. The niche suppliers of broadband services in Ireland have reduced their charges to levels that encourage consumer take-up. NTL (cable) are currently charging €20/month and Irish Broadband (wireless broadband) €30/month respectively. It is unfortunate that these operators are not accessible to the wider irish public. However, there is no doubt but that the independent resellers of Eircoms line based DSL service would reduce charges considerably were it not for the fact that the Eircom wholesale rate is set at such an outlandish pricing level.



Your article suggests that Eircom ‘have rolled out 860,000 broadband lines’. This implies that broadband is available to 860,000 irish consumers which it is not. All of these ‘enabled lines’ have to undergo a line test before Eircom (or other broadband resellers) can provide broadband services to the consumer. In many instances, thought to be as high as 50% of cases, lines fail the test. For verification of this, I refer you to this group of internet users: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=60. Should Mr. McRedmond dispute the above, i invite him to confirm the number of lines on which Eircom can actually provide broadband services.



The state of the copper based telecoms infrastructure is in bad shape and in need of considerable further investment. The Eircom spin doctors would have you believe that they are indeed investing in this infrastructure but this is far removed from the truth.



Far from being the ‘E-hub’ of Europe, Ireland is very much the ‘E-tub’ – we are playing catchup with the rest of the World. Unless ComReg is given a clear mandate – and the power that goes with that mandate – from the government to effectively regulate the telecoms sector, Ireland and the irish consumer will continue to suffer.



Eircom are about large dividend payouts (refer to recent reports on same) and the future development of telecoms services cannot be left in their hands. They have delayed the rollout of broadband services to maintain margins on ISDN services (of which there are an estimated 100,000 lines throughout the country).



In conclusion, what is happening here is little short of a national scandal. I suggest that it would be of great interest to your readers if you also considered reporting the other side of the coin ie. the sham that is broadband service provision in Ireland. A visit to www.irelandoffline.org would do much to confirm many of the points raised above.

GoneShootin

ZING !

dahamsta

FYI folks, if you're writing to an editor, keep it short and to the point. If you run over two or three paragraphs, the chances of getting published are slim and none. If necessary, rewrite your journo rebuttal to squeeze it onto the letters page -- the letter to the editor is more important from a campaign point of view. (Remember, the article has to go through the editor.)

Also, with regard to line failures, I'd be inclined to say something like: "Eircom have admitted publically to a failure rate of 30%, their competitors charge that it's 50% and there are credible reports of 80% and higher." The latter is hard to prove, but Eircom and the ISP's have little choice but to confirm the first too, since the cat is out of the bag. This will lend credence to the latter.

HTH,
adam

Sar!

Eurorunner....APPLAUSE!!!!
Nice email.....!! I just hope they sit up and listen!!!

Eurorunner

Originally posted by dahamsta
FYI folks, if you're writing to an editor, keep it short and to the point. If you run over two or three paragraphs, the chances of getting published are slim and none. If necessary, rewrite your journo rebuttal to squeeze it onto the letters page -- the letter to the editor is more important from a campaign point of view. (Remember, the article has to go through the editor.)
/B]

i hear ya adam. However, i'm sure that there will be a selection of responses sent in from us lot..one of which they should feel obliged to publish. Its tricky to cover all the points that spring to mind and keep it short at the same time. Over and above the publishing of letters, i'm sorta hoping we can convince these guys into actually covering the topic properly - which would be of much more value. If the reaction is strong enough, then theres every reason to believe they would cover it at some stage...

Nice email.....!! I just hope they sit up and listen!!!

Thanks Sar! If everyone puts 15 mins aside and responds, I think they would sit up and listen.

dahamsta

ComReg has been on to tell me that the failure rate is less that 20%. Didn't Adrian Wreckler write in his original article that Eircom had admitted that the failure rate was 30%?

adam

zz03

Originally posted by dahamsta
ComReg has been on to tell me that the failure rate is less that 20%. Didn't Adrian Wreckler write in his original article that Eircom had admitted that the failure rate was 30%?

adam

ComReg are probably giving a failure rate for all ISPs.

Eircom's failure rate is for eircom only?

Is there anything to stop eircom changing pass/fail criteria on their system so that it fails 60% of lines if they wanted to?

Should there not be independent (of eircom) monitoring of the testing criteria?


zz..

dahamsta

Better post the actual comment:

we have investigated the failure rate of the DSL product and it is less than 20% - some 10% lower tha BT’s

shinzon

Originally posted by dahamsta
we have investigated the failure rate of the DSL product and it is less than 20% - some 10% lower tha BT’s

and when and where did they do there investigation, were they inspecting there navel hair at the time


Shin

Dangger

Just a note to say Mr. O'Halloran contacted IOFFL today, to further investigate the issues.

Thanks guys.

mike65

The poor chap preberly thought he'd been caught by a spam virus!

Mike.

zz03

Originally posted by mike65
The poor chap preberly thought he'd been caught by a spam virus!

We could offer a pre-clearance service to journos for stories of this type.

Post a draft of your article here before it goes for publication and we'll remove the eircom lies, twist and spin in a jiffy. Three hour turnaround guaranteed.

zz..

spongebob

Originally posted by zz03

Is there anything to stop eircom changing pass/fail criteria on their system so that it fails 60% of lines if they wanted to?

Should there not be independent (of eircom) monitoring of the testing criteria?

Or otherwise, Eircoms test is more ruthless than the newer BT one and would fail more lines even if they were objectively of the same standard.

Comreg have ordered Eircom to test all lines and to provide the data , periodically, on CD.

Oh, The pass rate this year will have been better as the rainfall levels are low. Give it 2 wet months and the failure rate will increase.

At least Adrian Weckler of the SBPost, once prodded a bit , did his own investigation and was told 30% was the figure.

I believe Adrian and not Comreg.!

M

M

zz03

Originally posted by Muck

Oh, The pass rate this year will have been better as the rainfall levels are low. Give it 2 wet months and the failure rate will increase.

Don't wait this Christmas if you are thinking of getting broadband!


zz..


http://www.met.ie/forecasts/

Dangger

There is a follow up to this article in the Times today with the other side of the story.

Eurorunner

Originally posted by Dangger
There is a follow up to this article in the Times today with the other side of the story.

Good stuff:D

zz03, you think you can do the honours again and post the article?

Roll out the next unsuspecting journo thats had a Rat in his ear...lol


_________

Just found this on
ENN:

According to the Irish Times, Eircom's rivals have accused the company of using predatory pricing to keep them out of the broadband market. The criticism came in the wake of Eircom's announcement of a cut in the retail price of its broadband service, as noted by ElectricNews.net on Monday. ALTO (Alternative Licensed Telecommunications Operators), which represents Eircom's competitors, accused the former telecoms monopoly of using its muscle as the wholesale supplier of broadband lines to squeeze margins and make it difficult for competitors to enter the high-speed market.

nahdoic

Roll out the next unsuspecting journo thats had a Rat in his ear...lol

Bring it on.

spongebob

Originally posted by nahdoic
Roll out the next unsuspecting journo thats had a Rat in his ear...lol

Bring it on.

Jamie Smith of the Irish Times is one such . Congrats to Barry who has come a lot further a lot faster than Jamie ever did. I remain confident that Jamie will dig himself into a hole in the near future.

M

zz03

Eircom's rivals cry foul as broadband fees cut
Competitors accuse Eircom of pricing them out of the market
Barry O'Halloran


Eircom's rivals yesterday accused the company of using predatory pricing to keep them out of the broadband market, as the telecom group and its biggest competitor unveiled cuts in the retail cost of the high-speed service.

Eircom's retail arm announced a promotional package worth more than €200 to consumers and business. The deal includes a free connection, modem and one month's free rent to customers signing up between October and January 6th.

It had already confirmed to The Irish Times that it planned to cut the wholesale broadband connection fee from €150 to €20 during the same period.

Its biggest competitor, Esat BT, responded by announcing a similar deal, also valued at around €200 when the €20 cost of the connection is included. The promotions are available to customers signing up for a year.

But the Alternative Licensed Telecommunications Operators (ALTO) group, which represents Eircom's competitors, accused it of using its muscle as the wholesale supplier of broadband lines to squeeze margins and make it difficult for competitors to enter the high-speed market.

ALTO spokesman Mr Iarla Flynn argued that Eircom was effectively giving itself a more generous discount than that being offered to its competitors. "The value of their package is €200, but what they are offering to wholesale customers is a reduction of €130," he said.

Mr David Long of telecoms consumer group Ireland Off-line, warned there was a danger that Eircom was trying to squeeze margins in an effort to make broadband less profitable for its competitors, something that communications regulator ComReg has ruled to be illegal.

Both he and Mr Flynn called on Eircom to cut its monthly wholesale broadband line rental charge of €27. Mr Long said BT had cut this to £11 (€15.6) in the UK.

Eircom's commercial director, Mr David McRedmond, last night reacted to their comments saying that ComReg had approved its retail discounts. "Everybody knows ComReg is pretty tough on Eircom, and they looked very closely for margin-squeezing and did not find any evidence of it," he said.

A ComReg spokesman confirmed that the regulator had approved Eircom's promotion. He pointed out that the company was limited to offering it over three months. "Competitive offers have been available for some time [to new broadband subscribers] but it's clear that previous offers were insufficient to attract consumers in reasonable numbers," he said.

"This should stimulate demand and we hope that Eircom will see the need to reduce prices in the longer term."

Eircom cut the wholesale connection rate as part of its stated target of getting 100,000 subscribers signed up to the broadband services offered by both itself and its competitors by the end of 2005.

Some industry sources suggested yesterday that the company was keen to drive up broadband numbers as the growth in flat-rate internet services would erode its ability to grow revenues from existing fixed-line data services.

dahamsta

Eircom's commercial director, Mr David McRedmond, last night reacted to their comments saying that ComReg had approved its retail discounts. "Everybody knows ComReg is pretty tough on Eircom, and they looked very closely for margin-squeezing and did not find any evidence of it," he said.

This would be the same CumRag that approved the wholesale rental, yeah? FOAD David, sweetie.

adam

Moriarty

Stuff about caps moved here.