Phone Line Unbundled, Must I go back to Eircom before Unbundling Again? Please Advise

blobert

Hello,

I'm moving into an apartment in Dublin 4.

Unfortunatley UPC bb is not available there so I'm having to go DSL, thankfully both Smart and Magnet are available.

I contacted Eircom to activate the line, they said they could not activate the line remotely saying the previous operator:

"would have to have been either Magnet or Smart Telecom I believe. As far as I know currently these are the only to companies that physically port numbers off the eircom network. It's referred to as Local Loop Unbundling. Most companies keep the lines on our network and simply pay us for the rental, and they bill the customer. These lines can be reactivated remotely. The unbundled lines cannot. "

Now my question is this, as I want to use either Magnet or Smart do you think it would be possible to reactivate the line with them as opposed to having to go back to Eircom and then back to one of them?

I've tried emailing them both to see if the address was a previous customer, no reply yet, cannot ring them as am in work.

The landlord said he thought the previous tenants used Perlico, do they physically unbundle the lines also?

If anyone knows what the best way to proceed is, let me know, Eircom say it may take a month to reconnect the line, I need broadband for work so dont want to have to wait that long.

Like I said I will ring Smart and Magnet later but I suspect its the kind of query that the sales person wont be able to answer on the phone.

Many Thanks

blobert

Got a reply from Smart, not entirely sure they picked up on what I was asking though:

"Unfortunately Eircom are the only company in Ireland that can activate the line.
You will have to go to them to get the line re-activated, but as soon as you have the line connected we will gladly take you on as a customer."

It seems needlessly complictated to have to switch the line back to eircom only to immediately unbundle it to Smart/Magnet again?

Cabaal

You must first get the line activated or installed by eircom as they are the only one's who can do it, then you can migrate this line to Magnet or Smart.

Its overaly complicated but thats all you can really do.

Number portability and wholesale line rental setup is pretty poor in Ireland for PSTN lines,

MunsterCycling

Ask here: http://support.smarttelecom.ie/forums/

If you have the previous number of the phone line then the Smart guys on the forum will have a good idea what they can do for you, even if you just have the address you may be in luck.

My understanding is the line is already installed and moved to Smart / Magnet

MC

jor el

MC is right, Smart forums would be a good place to try. You do need an eircom account number (which will be your universal account number, UAN) in order to apply for either Smart or Magnet. Only eircom give these out, so regardless of who the line is with now, you will need to go back to eircom first, then move to Smart/Magnet, when you have the UAN.

Pain in the arse, but that's the way it is.

BadCRC

It might be that the line was never cancelled by the previous tenants. Or the Broadband provider failed to action a cancellation request.

Have you tried hooking up a phone and dialing your mobile?

blobert

Thanks for the replies guys, Eircom have given me an account number but say they cannot connect the line automatically hence the delay.

I tried the phone but there is no dial tone. Smart got back to me to say they have no record of the address or previous tennant, I have yet to hear from Magnet.

The guy in Eircom who I have been emailing (who has been very helpful, I haven't mentioned I'll want to change away from Eircom at once) thinks that Perlico do not unbundle lines and so it was unlikely to have been with them. Even if it was I'd have to go back to Eircom and on to Smart/Magnet so its not looking good.

Any further advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Cabaal

Perlico don't do LLU in Ireland so can't fully unbundle a line like Magnet or Smart, I personally wouldn't mention to Eircom that you want to migrate away from them until they have the line active in which case you get your UAN and off you go

blobert

Thanks, Eircom have given me an account number but I'm guessing I have to wait till the line is active again before I can contact Smart/Magnet to swap over to them?