At Last, I'm (fairly) Free!

captainpat

This is where I caught the bug. (The one where you think that you would like to be free of the eircom Monopoly). This is where I found that I was not alone in this, so before I'm bumped to some other forum, I would wish you like-minded people to rejoice with me.

Today, I got the notification that my landline was switched to UTVTalk. I have spent 7 months trying to get refunds from eircom for continued billing for i-Stream since Marc 04, and finally got the last refund last month. Now I have the Internet connecion on NTL (@1.5 Mbit/Sec) and the Landline with UTV (Free Ireland/UK offpeak calls). I will get single billing from UTV and NTL include theirs in the TV cable bill.

No More Blue Envelopes!!!

I know that somewhere in Corporateland eircom will get a wholesale rate for my line rental, but I take great pleasure in knowing that it is a lot less than I was paying for the right to use their line to make expensive telephone calls. Since we didn't make expensive calls, we're not making great cash savings, but now we can talk for 00:59's at a time free when we get home.

I deserve this, for all the money I as a taxpayer ploughed into eircom's network when they were P7T and Telecom Eireann. That money was not only wasted by the Government, but abandoned in favour of benefitting some of the usual favourites. I didn't buy the shares, but I will never forgive the destruction created by that privatisation. So I am very pleased to be able to make a maximum withdrawal from eircom.

It is a strange thing, I somewhere feel that I am making some kind of betrayal to a National Organisation. I was reared and grew up with the idea that our national telecomms company was part of Ireland, one of our assets. Leaving them to the maximum extent possible (while keeping a landline) is a bit of a jolt. But I have done it, and hope many follow, because eircom are now not part of Ireland, not a national asset, and not even interested in Ireland's benefit. They are a multi-national company, with only the aims of enriching their officers and directors while providing adequate returns to shareholders.

But you guys know this already, and I'm finished flogging that dead horse now. It's a whole new ballgame from here. I can keep the landline for €24.18/mth and have free calls when I want them. I can wait for viable VOIP Internet telephony to further improve the situation. Even mobile companies are cutting charges. I have Internet access at 3 times eircom speed for over €5/mth less.

It's still dear for the total, but a lot cheaper than any alternative available. Thanks, IOFFL, for waking me up and keeping me informed. I was tolerating a frustrating and expensive comms environment for a long time. I'm now F***ing delighted with the situation!

:cool: :cool:

Mr_Man

According to a report on the morning show on East Coast FM 50,000 people have taken advantage of single billing since its introduction. The more the merrier.

M.

Paddy20

Yep, Justice is a comin, a lot done/achieved by IOFFL, and a lot left too do

P.

MickFarr

I changed over to UTV about 2 months ago and my first bill for a month was 28.20 euros !! More than half my monthly eircon bill