Eircom introducing new automated broadband transfer system.

Oracle

I read in the Independent on Thursday 29th. March that Eircom are intending to introduce a new automated transfer system. It will mean Ireland's 390,000 broadband customers will be able to switch between operators more easily including Smart & Magnet, but not including 80,000 BT bitstream's customers. According to Eircom: "Anyone who wants to move from Eircom can keep their number and move to a new provider within a few hours."

The new system called GUMP (Geographic Number Portability Unbundled Line Metallic Path) is to be implemented by May; although the article doesn't say if that's May 2007 or 2008. :rolleyes:

I think if the new system is actually implemented and works as outlined it will be good news for everyone. I wonder if it also means Smarts current customers can switch to other operators and keep their Smart provided numbers?

It seems like this is an old story from the Silicon Republic web site (updated 6 March 2007): http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single7906

watty

It's very bad.
No ISP can migrate it's own customers from Eircom's Bitstream to their own faster LLU offering. Those people have to cancel and sign up to Eircom!

So only people who are in reality still giving most of the money to Eircom can use this.

Of course LLU is fairly bad too as Eircom still gets over half the revenue.

Oracle

Why do you think it's bad? Can you give me a couple of examples? Surely there are some positives if it speeds up transfers from Eircom?

watty

If you are on Bitstream (Eircom or anyone else reselling DSL), then you are limited to a quite low upload and download speed and VOIP is poor for various reasons.

This scheme only transfers between eircom or resellers of eircom's DSL.

Real DSL competition involves an ISP selling DSL directly using their own gear, maybe to 10km instead of eircom's 5km or 100Mbps rather than eircoms 3Mbps max (or whatever the real numbers are).

This can't be done without the line being taken from eircom and given to the alternate operator (Normally LLU process). AFAIK, the new process does not cover such competitive moves. It only covers moving between resellers of eircom's rather limited DSL product. So how does this help real competition or customers. You get the same service from the same eircom, but simply get billed by someone else.

Of course I'm presenting this simplistically, there are some differences of how the eircom bitstream is connect to INEX etc. Also the LLU line rental to eircom is too high for real competition and there are issues with affordable backhaul for non-bitstream (llu) operation.

This is some slight improvement and will suit some suppliers, but not ones that really want to offer innovative or competitive or faster products.

If Smart or Magnet had any bitstream customers (I think eircom has disconnected all Smart Telecom's bitstream users), they can't transfer to LLU without chaning to eircom or losing Broadband.

It does not just apply to BT's bitstream. It is just that they wish to offer LLU to many of their existing customers.

Other operators are also caught by this. Some currently do not offer LLU because eircom is sow restrictive and because the line rental and backhaul costs are so high (compared with most of Europe) for the LLU option

JNive

As for people already on Smart if you want to change providers you need to cancel smart like before and sign up to Eircom and get a new number, and then sign up to a new provider and then bring the eircom number with you, not the smart telecom one.

what is really needed is for the LLu process to be possible when with ANY provider and NOT Eircom, this is the single next biggest step that is required. And it results in cutting out Eircom as the middleman and having control over the process of every single transfer between providers.

Sponge Bob

Only a complete muppet of a regulator would even allow this and we have one of those regulators.

The automated system should transfer any of bitstream > bitstream bitstream > > LLU or LLU > LLU or LLU > Bitstream and have a facility where LLU opeators could flag a line in or out. Basically it should be a central database withing wholesale .

It is nothing of the sort, not allowing BT Bitsstream customers to transfer to BT LLU without being owned again by eircom at some stage in the process together with excessive downtime .

Not a peep out of Comreg who stopped their monthly LLU updates last year and missed one or two and also missed every deadline they set themselves for their updates . Pathetic it was but Sooooooo Comreg

Oracle

Interesting thanks for the information, there's a lot more to it than I realised. Although when Eircom move customers to Smart and Magnet aren't they moving them to Smart/Magnet's own broadband setup and off their network?

Sponge Bob

Oracle wrote:

Interesting thanks for the information, there's a lot more to it than I realised. Although when Eircom move customers to Smart and Magnet aren't they moving them to Smart/Magnet's own broadband setup and off their network?

No. The wires all belong to eircom wholesale and are rented for a service like LLU or partially rented for bitstream .

This central system allocates services to eircom wires in effect, except it does not of course because Comreg are utterly useless .

JNive

Basically what is needed ultimately is to have automated transfer systems in place which do not involve eircom retail and which only involves eircom wholesale in a transparent capacity ( ie, behind the scenes and you dont deal with them yourself )

On top of this is further seperation and distinction between eircom retail and eircom wholesale, meaning they need to deal with eircom wholesale in the same way as other operators first of all, and that because they are eircom should not mean they have any advantage in being able to offer any particular service.

watty

Only some bit of Fibre are really actually Magnet & Smart etc. Virtually all the copper pairs are eircoms. Even with LLU nearly 17 Euro a month goes to eircom. This is why Smart Telecom needs to raise the prices to be viable.

In some exchanges the only backhaul would be eircom's too. eircom charge so much for backhaul that famously a MAN fibre or two was not connected to anything. I'm not sure if that has been sorted.

Separating eircom into Wholesale & Retail only works if Babcock & Brown are forced to sell one part and the Wholesale price is sensibly regulated. If you own both you don't care if the retail makes a loss, as the other retailers have to reduce to match your price and you make lots as the Wholesaler.

That is why eircom have reduced call charges and BB charges but have the highest line rental costs.

rogue-entity

Simple solution, the government needs to give Comreg the powers it needs to deal with eircom, such as the ability to impose more then mere fines. The competition authority, another useless shower of bastids, needs to wake up to the anti-competitive nature of eircom's business and force the company to split into eircom retail, and eircom wholesale. Look at how the UK are doing things with the increased competion, BT no longer classify lines, they just enable them, regardless of distance and if it works, they sign you up. Don't like BT? No problem, move your line to another provider, number and all, and sign up to one of their products, no fussing and BT doesnt faf about with it, OfCom in the UK would come down on them like a ton of bricks if they did.

Its times like this that almost makes me wish I was living in britain <_<