Comms News

dahamsta

ENN: Richard Cooke, Esat's chief executive, has resigned from his position in the company. Bill Murphy, who currently runs human resources group E-Peopleserve, has been appointed interim chief executive.

ENN: ISDN prices fall, but PSTN prices rise: Eircom has cut the cost of ISDN in a drive to sign new users up to the service, but the cost of other residential services will increase.

adam

Beastie Boy

On 5-7 live Doug Keating just said it was a decision by BT to take a more active role in the running of the Co. but the split was amicable !?

What is it they say...
Theres no smoke without fire!

[edit]
And heres the link...
http://www.onbusiness.ie/2002/0405/esat.html

Cooke resigns from ESAT


Cooke resigns
BT more involved
Esat chief executive Richard Cooke is resigning from the company.

Parent group British Telecom said in a statement that Cooke would leave this month to explore new challenges elsewhere.


A BT spokeswoman said there was nothing contentious about the departure, and Cooke's contract was up for renewal at the end of March so it was a natural time to leave.


However she said it was sign that BT were taking a more active role in the company. She said the decision to cut 200 jobs in Feburary from ESAT's 1,300 staff was part of a new strategy that came from BT.


So far 114 staff have applied for voluntary redundancy, half of which have been approved.


Bill Murphy, who currently runs human resources group e-peopleserve, has been appointed interim chief executive.


BT is actively searching for a permanent sucessor to Cooke, who has been with the company for four years, and was a senior manager when Denis O'Brien ran the company

gurramok

Eircom says that ISDN prices will fall by almost 16 percent, from EUR44.55 per month, to EUR37.50 per month. Additionally ISDN installation costs will fall by 4.5 percent from EUR125.69 to EUR119.99.

They surely are taking the p*** ?!!
How on friggin earth is that meagre 'price cut' going to attract more customers? !....LOL
That article is not a good omen for forthcoming dsl pricing.
Look at it this way, based on the last offering of dsl(stopped by odtr), its certain that you will pay dearer for isdn than dsl even though dsl is superior technology and is 24/7 and isdn is not flat-rate.
But does it make economic sense to sell isdn at a higher price than dsl ? !!
The mind boggles.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

The cost of a PSTN (standard) telephone rental will jump 7.5 percent to EUR19.60. There will also be a three percent increase in telephone connection where there is no existing line, from EUR125.69 to EUR129.99, and a 24 percent increase in PSTN telephone connections where there is an existing line from EUR20.17 to EUR 24.99.

oh boy...the monopoly strikes again

aidan_dunne

I doubt very much that something like this will happen, but assuming that BT are going to take a more active role in Esat I wonder does that mean that they are actually going to begin doing what Esat seemed a bit reluctant to do and actually fight Eircom?

Esat seemed a bit timid when it came to taking on Eircom and perhaps with the might of BT firmly behind them now they will try to actively fight Eircom regarding full LLU, ADSL pricing, FRIACO, etc. For example, the ODTR have said they cannot do anything regards FRIACO unless another OLO asks them to interveen in the matter. And, despite the debacle with No Limits, Esat apparently never approached the ODTR afterwards about FRIACO. Maybe now BT will take a firmer stance and try to deal with things like FRIACO and mention it to the ODTR. If they do, fair play to them for finally standing up and trying to take on the might of Eircom. However, as I said, I don't hold out much hope. Don't be surprised if the status quo remains for some time to come.

stormkeeper

The cost of a PSTN (standard) telephone rental will jump 7.5 percent to EUR19.60. There will also be a three percent increase in telephone connection where there is no existing line, from EUR125.69 to EUR129.99, and a 24 percent increase in PSTN telephone connections where there is an existing line from EUR20.17 to EUR 24.99.

:eek:

Surely this means we need unmetred internet access more than ever now? I mean, this is a bit unfair, no scratch that, very unfair to home phone users. I mean the majority of the country are home phone users. In all honesty, how many people will sign up for IDSN just because line rental and installation have been lowered? It's still going to cost more than a PTSN line...

Eircom need to get their act together and offer a product that's more appealing to us residential PTSN/phone-line users.

dahamsta

Aidan, I agree with you about Esat, their attitude to flat-rate has been shameful, if not even bizarre given Derek Kickham's comments to the press on the issue, which were outright misdirection. But I also think we have to give credit where it's due, and tar other OLO's with the same brush.

Up until yesterday, Esat were the only OLO to sign contracts for unbundling, and they're into double-figures with them now. While other companies dropped out of the process, Esat drove it forward. And there are other OLO's and ISP's out there who could have attempted to negotiate for flat-rate services. There's plenty of licence holders in Ireland, some of them quite powerful. All one of them had to do was /attempt/ negotiations with Eircom, and then complain to the ODTR when Eircom stalled and bluffed them.

How about MCI Worldcom, who know /exactly/ how the process works, because they were the company that broke BT's resolve in the UK, when they filed a complaint. How about UTV, who are so keen to get into flat-rate services in Ireland - can they not afford a licence? How about AOL, who are pushing heavily for bitstream services across Europe - is Ireland not good enough for them. I could go on.

adam

sceptre

Don't forget BT gave Esat until the end of March to improve profitability dramatically (read "make a profit" for that) - I've my suspicions that the two events are related in some way.

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by dahamsta
Aidan, I agree with you about Esat, their attitude to flat-rate has been shameful, if not even bizarre given Derek Kickham's comments to the press on the issue, which were outright misdirection. But I also think we have to give credit where it's due, and tar other OLO's with the same brush.

Up until yesterday, Esat were the only OLO to sign contracts for unbundling, and they're into double-figures with them now. While other companies dropped out of the process, Esat drove it forward. And there are other OLO's and ISP's out there who could have attempted to negotiate for flat-rate services. There's plenty of licence holders in Ireland, some of them quite powerful. All one of them had to do was /attempt/ negotiations with Eircom, and then complain to the ODTR when Eircom stalled and bluffed them.

How about MCI Worldcom, who know /exactly/ how the process works, because they were the company that broke BT's resolve in the UK, when they filed a complaint. How about UTV, who are so keen to get into flat-rate services in Ireland - can they not afford a licence? How about AOL, who are pushing heavily for bitstream services across Europe - is Ireland not good enough for them. I could go on.

adam

Okay, I have to agree with you on that one. It does seem that all the other operators were sitting back and waiting for someone else to make the first move. But, as Esat proclaim themselves, they are the second biggest telecoms company in Ireland and I just feel that they could have (and should have) done more and done it sooner regarding LLU, ADSL flat-rate, etc.

You mentioned the likes of Worldcom and UTV but I think they were waiting to see what Esat/BT would do to tackle Eircom first, seeing as they are number two in the Irish market. I think the other operators were thinking to themselves, "Okay, let's see if Esat/BT can break Eircom because if they can't there's no need in smaller companies trying to do it."

I agree with you in giving credit where credit is due. If Esat get their act together (under BT's increased support) and tackle Eircom head-on and this leads to FRIACO, full LLU and reasonable ADSL prices, I will give Esat the credit they deserve, just like AOL and Worldcom when they took on BT in the UK and forced the market open over there. However, as I said, I still think it could be a long time before we see anything significant happening, either from Esat or any of the other operators. I still think they are all waiting for someone else to stand up and have the guts to tackle Eircom (which no-one seems to have at the moment) which means this whole thing could go on for a long, long time to come.

Stonemason

Seems like eircom are robbing peter to pay Paul here lower the business costs (the government will like that)and increase the home users cost coz no one gives a toss about them i wonder if the figures would balance exactly.
As to the isdn reduction well could it be that ADSL is on the way so why not flog of the old rubbish to some poor smcuck who knows no better, then when Mr and Mrs not so well informed have paid out for all the isdn equipment and installation we can come back in a couple of months and sting them again for ADSL equipment and installation.BT playing a more active roll sounds good as long as they aren’t coming in to stiff us too lets not forget that BT tried to do exactly what eircom is doing now not so long ago over in the UK.


Stone

Lemming

Eircom says that ISDN prices will fall by almost 16 percent, from EUR44.55 per month, to EUR37.50 per month. Additionally ISDN installation costs will fall by 4.5 percent from EUR125.69 to EUR119.99.

The cost of a PSTN (standard) telephone rental will jump 7.5 percent to EUR19.60. There will also be a three percent increase in telephone connection where there is no existing line, from EUR125.69 to EUR129.99, and a 24 percent increase in PSTN telephone connections where there is an existing line from EUR20.17 to EUR 24.99.

This, to me, looks like Eircom are gearing up for FRIACO/DSL release. They're anticipiating either a surge in PSTN, or a decrease in ISDN (presumably due to interest from DSL/Cable) in which case they're trying to offshoot the lost revenue from this rather bloated and out of shape cash-cow.

dahamsta

Increasing the PSTN cost won't help Eircom if they release a FRIACO product, since it's... uh... flat-rate. I very much doubt Eircom will release a flat-rate product unless they're forced into it, or one of the OLO's gets up off their arse and requests it (and subsequently complains to the ODTR).

This does appear to be a preparatory step towards a bitstream DSL release though. ISDN subscriptions are flagging, so Eircom probably want to get a few more people on that before enough exchanges are upgraded for the big DSL push. It's likely that Eircom's call centre will get increased enquiries about upgrades when they announce the release of DSL, and will advise people to take ISDN in the interim.

This will serve three purposes: a) they will have more customers on a product with a higher profit margin; b) they will generate greater revenues from people who will in time convert to DSL; and c) the higher transfer cost will serve as a disincentive, which will allow Eircom to further control the process.

adam

yellum

simple really once adam explains it.

KdjaCL

Increasing the PSTN cost won't help Eircom if they release a FRIACO product,

It would if you got a 2nd phone line .
If they said tomorrow DSL is a no go for x years ,then if Friaco was available i probably most other people would get a 2nd phone line .
So increasing the PSTN cost would be a good money making move for ppl who want flat rate internet.
kdja

dahamsta

That's a fair point kdja, but it won't help them a whole lot when you offset it against a fairly hefty drop in metered dial-up charges. It could of course be a long-term preparatory step though, with an eye to raising prices again when a flat-rate service is released. This will almost certainly need to be on the bargaining table when negotiations reach the ODTR, which is pretty much a given at this stage.

adam

spongebob

Yo

ESAT is divided into a number of product groups.

The ones making a profit are

Leased Lines (thats €20,000 euros a year for a 512k Leased line with no cap now y'all)

ESATX (marginal and recent I hear but a profit)

The bits NOT making a profit are

The ISP (ex IOL/Postgem/Eunet/ESAT Home/Homenet) now that hosting has been taken off them it seems.

CPS users, those who use ESAT for cheaper calls in preference to Eircom.

M

seamus

Originally posted by dahamsta
That's a fair point kdja, but it won't help them a whole lot when you offset it against a fairly hefty drop in metered dial-up charges. It could of course be a long-term preparatory step though, with an eye to raising prices again when a flat-rate service is released. This will almost certainly need to be on the bargaining table when negotiations reach the ODTR, which is pretty much a given at this stage.

adam

I dunno.....the key in that increase is that it only applies to a second line. There's no good reason why the rate of second line connections should drop/rise. I see 2 possible reasons for it:

1. They plan to introduce FRIACO, and see a lot of home users adding a second line for 24/7 access.

2. (and more likely reason) They anticipate a spate of second-line cancellations on introduction of ADSL. After all, plenty of businesses use a second line purely for internet access, so once ADSL is in, the second line becomes defunct.

I agree with whoever said they look like they're gearing up for the DSL release. Entice people over to ISDN while they wait for DSL. Net reap = migration to ISDN cost + migration back to PSTN cost + ADSL/ISDN subs + double phone calls while on ISDN.

It's win/win for them.
I'm considering setting up a small (non-existant) telco, buying a licence, and going to the ODTR when eircom stall/bluff on giving me a flat-rate call structure. Anyone wanna give me some financial backing??



(oh, and on Cooke leaving......BT have set a date of March '03 for Esat to break-even - an attempt by them to reduce their debt. BT were/are an incumbent, and so have a tonne of insight into eircom. I wouldn't be surprised if they begin using the same tricks that made them crumble, against eircom, in order to gain that break-even goal.)

dahamsta

I'm considering setting up a small (non-existant) telco, buying a licence, and going to the ODTR when eircom stall/bluff on giving me a flat-rate call structure. Anyone wanna give me some financial backing??

Ya think some of us wouldn't have done it already if we had the money seamus?

adam

segadreamcast

So it looks like eircon are gearing up to launch then?

Surely it must be at least a month off if no prices/details have been announced and no customers informed...

But with people being taken off trials, prices of ISDN falling...it seems likely that eircon may finally push ahead...

...here's hoping...

BoneCollector

i believe gts.com do 2mb least lines for £25,000 and thats mega bytes no cap