Eircom moron on TodayFM now 11AM Sun 02 Nov

ColinM

I'm just listening to some plonker on Today FM right now "explaining" what broadband is.

Tune in now!!

Will discuss later.

ColinM

I think it was a repeat of an interview from an edition of The Last Word from during the week.

The interviewee's name was David McRedmond I think. He was Commerical Director of Eircom. I hope I haven't missed a thread about this already. Did anyone record this? Can anyone post an mp3 of it? You have to hear this interview.

This guy sounded like a total idiot. I have never heard someone say "em" and "eeerm" so much when speaking - ever.

Here was the opening question from the interviewer:
"We are hearing more about broadband now, and I have often heard the term DSL being used. What exactly are we talking about here?"

Response:
"Well -erm- , it's -erm, em- the -erm- way -erm- that -erm- is -erm, em - used to -erm- access -erm- telecom -erm, em, em - ... networks."

This guy sounded like a marketing gimp to me. He got a little more fluid when the interviewer kindly steered the course of the (obviously pre-prepared) discussion towards pricing and future expansion plans. The guy sounded like he was reading from the Eircom "corporate vision" newsletter at one point, and yet he still managed to sound like he was simultaneously lying and unsure of what he was talking about.

Of course there was all the usual bumpf (outright lies) about Eircom being one of the cheapest in Europe for broadband and that Eircom are spending loads of money on advertising it because they desperately want everyone in Ireland to have it.

It was a fascinating listen.

De Rebel

Originally posted by ColinM
I'm just listening to some (word removed in light of Mod's edit) ..............

Thats highly offensive and certainly leaves me not wanting to read any of the rest of your post

vibe666

Originally posted by ColinM
Of course there was all the usual bumpf (outright lies) about Eircom being one of the cheapest in Europe for broadband and that Eircom are spending loads of money on advertising it because they desperately want everyone in Ireland to have it.

how can they be one of the cheapest in Europe when they are the single most exensive BB provider in Europe? they are even being investigated for the high price of broadband as we speak. shame its not russia in the 70-80's, peopple like that were taken to red square and shot in the head in front of everyone.

mike65

I taped the interview and will try and post an mp3 later..

Mike.

ColinM

Nice one, Mike. Looking forward to hearing it again!

ColinM

Originally posted by De Rebel
Thats highly offensive and certainly leaves me not wanting to read any of the rest of your post

Good for you! But what about my use of the word "moron"? Don't you think you ought to stick up for any of those who may be offended also?

Ba$tard

That would be great Mike, cheers!

Amazing how many people are awake on a Sunday morning on boards.ie

sceptre

Post edited. Any problems with that PM me.

In other words, do not start a discussion on it here, you'll only look even worse in the end than you do now

Heard the interview it was on the sunday business show on Today Fm.

Unchallenged things said by the Eircom guy included:

We are the second cheapest in Europe...
There are 1000 a week signing up to Eircom broadband ( possibly true?? )

He was asked how much Broadband cost and mentioned Eircoms prices but didn't mention that they are the more expensive option.

Unfortunately this is the kind of radio interview that I do not like, in that it came across as free advertising and gave the impression that you only get BB with Eircom.
A very unprofessional unresearched interview really.
Strange considering you'd imagine that the average audience to that show didn't need the Sesame street approach to the interview considering they deal with many technical Business and Economy discussions :rolleyes:

mm

mrblack

My suggestion for the business Card of Mr McRedmond

David "Comical Davy" McRedmond
Commercial Director - Eircom

De Rebel

Originally posted by ColinM
Good for you! But what about my use of the word "moron"? Don't you think you ought to stick up for any of those who may be offended also?

I note Sceptre's request that we do not go off thread, but there is an important point here about how we conduct discussions.

There is a world of difference between attacking "Ericom" the company, and an individual, identifiable human being who happens to be doing his job, presumably to the best of his ability.

To refer to eircom, the company, as moronic is your privilage.

To refer to an identifiable individual as a moron is, in my opinion, unfair and inappropriate. But thats only my opinion.

To use the word you originally used in the first post is downright unaceptable. Thats why I objected to that and nothing else.


We want eircom to engage here. We need eircom to engage here. We know that eircom lurk here. We have even seen useful and very welcome contributions from eircom empolyees from time to time. Calling them names does not advance the cause and just encourages them to stay away. Attackin them on the merits of the case and on the weakensses of their products/services is the way to go.

ColinM

Good point there, De Rebel.

I still think the man is a clumsy and inept representative for Eircom. Maybe that's the intention though.

Oh, and obviously, that's my opinion. I wouldn't be saying it if it wasn't. I'd say it to David's face and I'd say he'd have to admit it was true if he is a truthful kind of person.

mike65

lo-fi stream - http://www.electronicscene.com/tracks/1608/8797/1/0/1/FutureMusicCorp_-_Eircom_Interview_p.m3u

mp3 download - http://www.electronicscene.com/tracks/1608/8797/1/1/0/FutureMusicCorp_-_Eircom_Interview.mp3

Its 7 mins long I missed the opening min as I did'nt know the interview was coming...!

Spot the unintentional joke at the end....

Amazing how many people are awake on a Sunday morning on boards.ie

Very true nothing gets past us!

Mike.

Hannibal_12

I would actually have to say that the interview as a whole was very good. The host does challenge the Eircom rep on a number of issues and seems to have put a concerted effort into researching the topic.
The Eircom rep however came out with some hypocrticial spurious garbage that made me feel nauseous.
2nd cheapest in Europe with respect to the cost of living, well of course that may be true, but when the cost of living is exorbitant to the extreme that point falls apart quite quickly.
He did his level best to portray Eircom as the pioneers of broadband struggling against all adversity to bring it to its customers, whom it values so much, pure fiction but then again thats his job.

Knob

Knob, read your PMs.

Winters

I heard the interview on the radio this mornign at work. I hid down in the Deli to hear it shouting at customers that asked me to make them a roll

I took offence to the fact that the Eircom dude failed to mention one thing about the CAP. Also that the DSL offering in ireland is of poor quality, over capped and overly expensive when compared to the same option in europe. Its a pity the interviewer didnt mention the cap and how pityfully small it actucully is

He did seem to make Eircom out to be the good side in the Broadband war claming about how cheap out DSL offering is in relation to "europe" [I wish i know where in europe DSL was as 'cheap' as Ireland, Greece possibly?] and also that EIRCOM have invested all this money in DSL and hoe EIRCOM will not be making profits and so on and so forth.

I was ready to kick the radio after the interview

iwb

I saw him at the TIF conference and thought he acquitted himself fairly well. I have yet to hear an Eircom person speak publicly and not make me somewhat cross. They do have a way of twisting things to sound better than they are. I have to say it is impressive though.
ColinM, I don't know what word you used but I don't agree with having a go at any of these guys. The company is fair game, but not an individual, as was stated earlier. I know you are a decent individual having met you so I would assume you didn't really mean anything by it.
iwb.

MadsL

>>@ Mike

WHY are there porn popups and spyware installs on that link????

mike65

Eh? electronicscene.com has never, in the two or three years I've been there as a member or browser, thrown a pop-up at me...

Mike.

ColinM

Hey IWB, I'm going to have a good think about whether I still think I'm right and I'll sleep on it too. If I think I'm wrong I won't mind admitting it, and I'll see if I can't apologise in that case.

At the moment though, I have just re-listened to the start of the interview where David McRedmond is "explaining" what broadband is. I'm glad Mike got that bit because I don't know how you could listen to that and the number of times he goes "ehhh, eerrm, ehhh..." and tell me you think he sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

Listen to it yourself and see what you think.

As for expressing opinions about people who represent Eircom, rather than Eircom the entity, well Eircom is comprised of these people - these people are Eircom. He is the Commercial Director of Eircom, after all. It's like how can you separate the dancer from the dance - you know?

Again, I'll have a think on this though and sleep on it and see if I still think I'm right tomorrow.

David, if you are reading this - you know yourself you would rather have done better at least in the beginning of the interview.

Madsl - I don't know what you mean about the popups - those links Mike gave just point directly to files. I've downloaded the mp3 file at least, and that certainly works.

Calibos

I posted a thread about a piece in one of the Sunday papers last week. Dermot Aherne threatening Eircom with further ultimatums and regulations if they didn't increase BB availabilty and decrease Price. It was this guy Redmond who responded in the article with the same twaddle. He would be a moron if he believed what he was saying but we all know that he knows its twaddle too. If he's guilty of anything its not being a moron but merely selling his soul to the corporate devil, lying his face off and conciously misleading the public all for a pay cheque.

PS. You didn't use the R word colin did you? Never use that word as I've learnt to my cost in the past!

ColinM

The R word? I'm trying to think what that could be. I can only think of one right now but that wouldn't seem to fit the context.

Anyway, the word I used means literally clumsy and inept in its vernacular context according to dictionary.com, but there are other medical connotations to it.

De Rebel

Yea the guy was nervous in the first few minutes. Big swinging mickie. He's a marketing head. In my experience they are almost always nervous of technology subjects, and with good reason. One little faux pax, one wrong term, and whooooosh, the sanctimonious tech savvy among us rush to demonstrate our prolific knowledge and descend to wolf them and call them morons and make them feel like fools.

The guy has a job to do: Market his employer's company. And frankly he did an ok job and handled some tricky questions. I certainly didn't find anything moronic about his performance. I don’t accept a lot of what he said. But he certainly wasn’t moronic.

Eircom is a private company. As a private company, like every private company, it has one objective - to maximise shareholder returns. EVERYTHING else is incidental. They do NOT exist to supply you or me with services, to provide the best service in the world, to provide the cheapest service in the world. They exist to make profits for their shareholders. Period.

We, the citizens of Ireland, through our elected representatives, made it so. Eircom was a company owned by the Irish people, with a public service remit to invest in telecommunications infrastructure on our behalf and provide the telecommunications services that we so richly deserve. No longer is it so. WE sold eircom. Probably the most stupid decision ever made by an Irish Government (acting on our behalf).And that’s saying something. And WE didn't put in place any of the necessary safeguards to ensure that the privatised monopoly would do anything other than use its every asset to maximise value for its new shareholders. We handed them a cash cow with no effective controls whatsoever.

I have posted on many occasions about the damage being done to the economy on a daily basis by the lack of action on broadband and other telecommunications issues. Eircom are not the problem. The problem is first and foremost a political one. Thankfully we now have a politician who recognises that and is doing something about it. Eircom certainly are part of the solution. Just how we solve the whole mess still remains to be seen. IOFFL is one of a small number of bodies which has a real understanding of the issues and an impartial view. Through diligent lobbying and a lot of hard work, a small number of IOFFL people are achieving the necessary change in thinking at the top. IOFFL has been well received by the DCMNR and the Oireachtas Committee in the last 12 months, and the realisation is finally hitting home to Government - this is a big issue for Ireland Inc and only the Government can sort it out. And a lot of that change in thinking is due to IOFFL’s hard work.

If you want to influence the development of telecommunications products in this country, go meet your local politicians and make them understand why it is such a critical issue for the country.

That’s the reality - deal with it. And quit the name calling - it achieves nothing positive, and unfortunately undermines IOFFL’s ability to be taken seriously.

Littletinyman

<Littletinyman, take a month's holiday for being insulting to another poster. As a mod, I'd have hoped you were bigger than this. PM me when your time is up if you want back in - sceptre>

zynaps

Jaysus lads, enough with the flogging of the name-calling issue. Stuff was said, a slap on the wrist was given.
No need to jump on the bandwagon and destroy the thread.

I was quite offended by the fact that eircom got away with pushing such a load of rubbish out on the air - I do feel the interviewer could have done a lot more research; I doubt it would take long to dig up figures beforehand that would have completely destroyed the "among the cheapest prices in Europe" rubbish, and the profitability of the ADSL rollout.

Maybe the interview needed a devil's advocate (ie, someone from irelandoffline, or someone from an ISP you could honestly consider is competing with eircom - ie. anyone but esat).

Ahh well. It was an interesting listen anyway.

zynaps

bk

Originally posted by zynaps

Maybe the interview needed a devil's advocate (ie, someone from irelandoffline, or someone from an ISP you could honestly consider is competing with eircom - ie. anyone but esat).

Yes, the interview did require a devils advocate.

We in IOFFL are always more then happy to play devils advocate on any talk show.

However we have found over the last 12 months that Eircom refuse to appear on the same show as an IOFFL representative. I can only assume that the reason for this is that we have the information to show that the various claims Eircom make are inaccurate at best and that they can't "spin" their way through a show when an IOFFL person plays devils advocate.

ColinM

Right, I've slept on it and I don't get the overall feeling that I'm wrong in saying what I've said.

Are we are allowed to criticise Eircom, but not high profile individuals within Eircom? Is Phil Nolan fair game? I know he has been in the past. If so, then why aren't members of his board of directors? The CEO and the board of directors are Eircom for chrissake!

Two things that are very old hat by now:

1) Eircom habitually make false and misleading statements to the media who accept them without challenge.

2) Eircom representatives do not show up to interviews where they are not the only interviewee.

This has been going on for so long now that it's just become normal and almost acceptable. I know I'm certainly becoming complacent.

You know the old Goebbels/Lenin quote "A lie told often enough becomes the truth." It seems that's what's happening here.

Fallschirmjager

as i persue my ongoing drive for democracy...why doesnt everyone listen to the kindly loaded mp3 and make their own mind up...i have...

i am not too sure i agree with the comment that he is a guy doing a job..so is everyone else in eircom, the issue becomes one of leadership i think and he is a Director as i recall. i would recommend that he not appear on radio if he is not prepared. i think the whole thing just smacks of the whole problem, doesnt it?..its all a little shoddy and haphazard and i think this chap is a symptom. i not too sure i would call him a moron, in fact i would not, but he has certainly shown a few classical symptoms,by not preparing.

and i would tend to agree Colin's last post in that, they are repeating their 'truth' in the hope that it becomes 'factoid'.


still -- thats just my opinion...

SkepticOne

I listened through the mp3, and I don't think McRedmond is a moron in any way. There was a certain amount of hesitation particularly at the beginning but he managed to put Eircom's message across extremely well, imo.

The fact that I and others on this forum disagree with him is beside the point. He was able to state (correctly or incorrectly) that Eircom were rolling out broadband at a huge rate, that they were among the cheapest in Europe, and that broadband is selling very well (1,000 per week). This is the message the casual listener would recieve.

The question is what the response should be to this sort of thing in the future. It will certainly come up again and again.

What I would suggest is that if an MP3 is available, that the various points be distilled out of it and corrected on this forum. Then emails be sent in with the various corrections.

Note that he cleverly qualified a lot of his statements. For example the 45 euros was repeated a couple of times just to get it to sink in, then he qualified this with with the 'pre VAT'. On another occasion, also while discussing the price of DSL relative to other european countries, he qualifies this with 'relative to cost of living' or some such. In this way, he avoids telling outright lies. In responding, we would need to take this into consideration pointing out that while perhaps not factually incorrect, it is nevertheless highly misleading. Obviously outright lies, where they occur, need to be pointed out.

I can understand the need to vent anger too, but it is so much better if this is combined with action to remedy the situation. Otherwise, the whole thing just repeats itself.

dahamsta

Since Eircom refuse to talk to the media in the presence of IrelandOffline (and others as far as I can see), perhaps it would be a good idea to create a strategy to deal with appearances quickly and effectively. That is, something like:

- Ask IrelandOffline members (via newsletter) to notify the committee and membership about appearances.
- Write (and release) a press release immediately after appearance, while details are still fresh.
- Post press release and contact details on IrelandOffline forum immediately so members can refute directly (direct action).

Style of fing.

Oh, and I wouldn't call yerman a moron. Sellout, asshole, lying sack of sh1t maybe, but not a moron. His mammy must be so proud.

adam