My Sympathies

lombardox

Hello People,

Excuse my ramblings if you will, they will finish in a serious question which I would be very grateful if someone could answer for me.

Last Wednesday, following the much publicised 'slashing' by BT of the wholesale price of ADSL and subsequent lowering of the retail price by many ISPs I signed up for the PIPEX service which from April 1st will cost just £23.50 or so a month. Following the arrival of my ADSL modem this morning and an email from PIPEX notifying me that my line will be ADSL-enabled from Thursday I'm all set to join the broadband world. PIPEX have been brilliant and are a great example of how a super service can be provided if those who run the infrastructure required can get it together to make that possible at a price affordable to mere mortals. How jealous are you?

I've been keeping an eye on Broadband (or lack of it) in Ireland since I used to live and work there which is about 3 years now. At the time I'm almost certain Cablelink were trialling broadband services over their cable network and were, according to their website (and one of their employees who I emailed about it), on the verge of rolling it out to eagerly awaiting Dubliners. I notice that 3 years later the NTL site boasts of the same service available in selected parts of West Dublin which is, to put it mildly, pathetic. The other great white hope was a company called CMI or somesuch who at the same time were treating the residents of Malahide to Broadband cable internet access. Maybe they still have this in Malahide, but you would have thought they might have tapped into the deep pockets of neighbouring Howth by now. As for ADSL, well, how hard can it be? This technology is now mature if not old and having sat on their asses for so long surely Eircom could at least have used the time to benefit from other countries' experiences with it, thereby facilitating a smooth if belated rollout. Not a chance.

Even if it really hurts, I suppose you can't blame Eircom, who as a public ltd company are mandated to maximize value for their shareholders, but the blame must lie somewhere. J'accuse Mary O'Rourke who has been the minister responsible for this mess for longer than I can believe. The last time I was in Ireland I heard her on a some panel-debate radio programme cracking jokes about how crap public transport is in Ireland. This after 5 years of her time taking care of the ministry. Surely this is a case for the legalisation of euthanasia. I urge you to make sure in the forthcoming election to make sure she doesn't get her incompetent paws on another ministry. People of Ireland I feel your pain as your 56k modems crackle and spit into life and Mary bumbles her way through another year serving the public interest.

Well that's enough of the rant; now the question.

I have a friend that lives in Dun Laoghaire who works from home but requires a decent connection to do his job. At present he has ISDN and some crazy satellite setup which costs a fortune and is only good for specific financial data that he uses. What's the best and cheapest option available for a connection of say 512kb that is currently available and how much does it cost? (Obviously not including ADSL which may or may not see the light anytime soon). Any info would be appreciated.

Good luck with your campaign to get Ireland Online at last,

N.

Boston

cmi was bought out by chorus last i heard, and as for your friend, he can forget about it. The is no cheap broadband in ireland.
nothing that will give you 512kbits anyway

And your point is taken, its been two years since i first found out about eircom adsl trials and it was exactly 1 year ago that eircom gave there first release date of march 28 for a retail adsl product.

anger has been surpressed by apathy.

it think that is why i cant enjoy my connect, because i know eircom are goign to take it away

Son of Blam

Originally posted by lombardox

Even if it really hurts, I suppose you can't blame Eircom, who as a public ltd company are mandated to maximize value for their shareholders, but the blame must lie somewhere.

As of the 26th of February, 2002, Eircom is no longer a public limited company.

-Son of Blam

Stonemason

Son of blam what hidious incarnation is it taking on next ?My guess its is yet another way of wriggling loose of some legal hold that would make them responsible for the mess we are in.:(


Stone

dahamsta

Eircom is a private limited company now Stonemason, with George Soros as the majority shareholder. Weren't you wondering about the Fine Gael ads?

adam

Stonemason

I thought the they were already privatised when everyone had to hand over their shares ?.So we have one sole monster now then ?.The only Fine Gael ads ive seen are on my bloody letters which the post office seems to think are fair game for advertising these days did i say advertising its bloody graffiti as far as im concerened.




Stone

PS Bad hair day cantcha tell by the posts

mdf

Obviously a rather confused day too - it's Fianna Fail on the letters.

apiou

Lombardox,

In another thread I said that here in France I got my adsl at christmas and paid 100 IR£ for the modem and then £32 per month. It works a wonder, I would never wish to go back to the old routine of keeping time on the net or worrying whether i turn it off or not - BUT within the Last Forthnight France Telecom has been told to stop selling the adsl modem for competition reasons - In France, the war is on,

Stonemason

I knew that really i did MDF i was just testing Honest


Stone