UTV Launch Flat-Rate Internet Package

kamobe

how many people here have the ESAT letter on their walls again?

/me fires dart at said letter.

Falkorre

Hi, Im *kinda* new here tho' iv been watching with interest for quite a while now.

I just wanted to say a big THNX to the guys at UTVip for bringing out this product and (hopefully) scaring the others to do same.

I'm a wheelchair user and spend *a LOT* of time online,... right now, i couldnt switch to utv coz we spend much more than 150hrs online PM, (alltho' if this limit ever increases to 200+ i will be switching immediately!)....

Right now im using NTL free weekends (cable woulda been nice but im in D.22 unfortunately), ...which gives me 48hrs a week for a flat rate, which adds up to 192 a month, an even thats hard to restrict myself to, but unfortunately being long-term disabled and not working its the most hours I can get that is affordable an every extra counts to me *shrug*. :rolleyes:

But once again, BRAVO to the ppl at UTV not just for the product, but for showing an interest and respect in the views and opinions of its customers. Lets hope the rest learn a valuable lesson.

Barry.

DeVore

Yeah Barry a lot of people forget that. My dad used to work with kids with Spina-Bifida who were all nuts about the internet because people didnt treat them like they were deaf and stupid on it. The bills for their parents were horrendous but what could they do?

We all forget that there are people for whom its a godsend not just a games platform. Even just people who lonely and are living in remote areas, people who are house bound with kids... the list goes on...

Welcome to Boards anyway.
DeV.

The Gopher

Right Ive had a think and it may be cheaper-forgive me I was drunk the other night i started raving.
Can I quit UTV whenever i want or is there a minimum staying period?
Can I get it if i dont have a credit card?

jonski

right I have but 1 question that I need answered before I sign up,

I already use utv internet 1890 number from time to time.........would my ping's be comparible to this...I spend a fair bit of time playing games online and this as most of you know is a really important factor....also if proper broadband became available through some other provided,is it possible to cancle the internet sub. but keep the telephone service...

oops that was 2 questions...but the ping one is the most important.

PiE

Originally posted by DeVore

Eircom and Esat could have done this at any time but they are greedy sons of bitchs who couldnt bear the thought of not milking you for everything you were worth because lets face it, you didnt have any choice except to pucker up and take it.
Now that we're around the others will find Jesus and bring you some decent products like they COULD have years ago.


That about sum it up?

Yep, and UTV can rest safe in the knowledge that a lot of customers will remember this show of respect and will flock to their DSL service if and when it becomes available. (Well, they bloody better not jump back into bed with the enemy anyway.)

corkey

Hi All

Just got a email that they got my paper work and they sent me my account number and said it will be a few days yet before im ghanged from eircom anyone online yet with utv with the the deal


Cheers
Corkey

Cork

Will all Irish bank Holidays be classed as "OFF Peak"?

If I have 2 lines - can i sign one up to UTVip?

Woill I get the same speed as the 1890 UTV number?

mike65

The announcement came on Sept 5th, 9 days ago.
Has anyone got the service up and running yet?

I await that e-mail with biated breath...

Mike.

vronique

Still waiting on that email as well

v

PiE

Got the email saying "it can take up to 10 days.." etc, I'm just hoping it's 10 days from when they rang to ask for my email (I sent it before I realised there was no email space on the form) and not from when I got that^ email!

DonegalMan

Originally posted by Scott Taunton


Our biggest disappointment is that our understanding of the framework has taken us this long. We could have had these products out months ago.
Scott Taunton
UTVi

This has to be one of the most damning statements I have seen in regard to the whole Eircom set up.

I never could understand how Esat were taking so long to get these issues sorted out - as an incumbent operator who should know the system inside out, I can only put it down to either a) total incompetence on their part or b) that they were quite willing to play along with Eircom's game and all the talk about wanting to get the issues sorted out was just a load of waffle.

Fair play to you guys in UTV; as I said in another thread, it's refreshing to see a company doing a job professionally instead of the half-assed performance we are used to with companies down here.

Martin Harran

ando

well monday will be the 7th working day since I ordered it ... I'm anxiously waiting for the email iswell !

dahamsta

This has to be one of the most damning statements I have seen in regard to the whole Eircom set up.

It's also one of the oddest, I'm finding myself wondering how UTV could find themselves in this position. There's a number of parties that could have been responsible: Eircom could have been holding back information; the ODTR could have been doing the same and/or not tackling Eircom on it; or, let's be fair, it could simply have been a misinterpretation within UTV, or even something sillier (although I doubt that given Scott's tone ).

Scott, I'd be interested in hearing UTV's opinion/viewpoint on this. I can understand that you may not wish to do so publicly, but I'd love to hear about it off the record, and I'm absolutely certain Dave would to. Confidentiality is of course guaranteed. (My email address is boards.ie@spamfilter.cc, and my PGP key is available on request (dunno where I put it last!).

Obviously, I'll understand if non-disclosure is a factor.

adam

Cork

With UTV – when does the billing period run from? Is there a certain time of month u should join up to take full advantage of the €30 per month flat off peak net access?

mike65

Whoa!

The reason I posted a new thread called
"Are You using UTVi Flat-rate yet?" was because this
one has grown like topsy.

I also though it would be a good way of monitoring the "roll out" of the new service as it happened.

Mike.

OHP

We have to register your telephone number(s) with our telecoms carrier before you can use the new service. This can take up to 10 working days

Im on Day 9 and still nothing? Anyone else in the same boat? Actually how many people have applied for and got their UTVIP service working?


OHP

Bios

Eircom are more likely the reason for the holdup than UTVip

Mark_irl

10 working days means two ful weeks from date of application I'm assuming.

Digi_Tilmitt

I'm with esat, if i get UTV's deal will my phone bill change to UTV automatically without me having to say anything to esat? Sorry if its a stupid question but i'm not sure.

oq4v3ht0u76kf2

Okay, so the way things would work is as follows.

I pay UTVip €29.99 per month. They then bill me at 25% less than Eircom for my phone calls aswell as giving me 150 off peak hours online free. I can recieve a paper bill from UTVip every month if I want.

I pay Eircom line rental bi-monthly, this is the only thing they bill me for.


Also, say I have restrictions on my Eircom line (i.e. only local calls, only incoming calls) will that continue or is that based on my Eircom account and not the line? If it is based on the account, do UTVip offer similar restrictions if I want?

netman

Did anyone get this service yet?

I've tried their free internet service and even though I still connected at the same rate as the other providers (45.2k) I found it to be extremely slow, getting downloads of maybe 1.5k/s with most sites I use (Europe and States).

I'd be interested to see how much people get out of this service, or if they can ping a few sites for me to get an idea what the speeds are like:

161.53.128.228
63.241.83.108

Anyone know if you can sign up for this service if you're not the owner of the phone line in the house? I'm renting a property and can't make any changes such as move to another telco. And yeah, it's an Eircom phone line.

seamus

I should go away more often.........The day after I leave the country, someone offers a half-decent package. Maybe I'll finally get Internet access at home this year....

Anyone want to pay for me to go away again, maybe DSL will arrive then

BTW - My parents have joined some new telco for their landlines, but they couldn't remember the name except that 'tele' is somewhere in it. They are offering free minutes (!) to other landlines. Anyone know who I'm talking about?

seamus

crawler

UTV Internet profits hit STG200,000 in the first half of 2002, as the business reported "fantastic" demand for its flat-rate Internet access products.

The profit, which was announced in the half-year results of parent company Ulster Television plc, reverses UTV Internet's loss of STG400,000 for the second half of 2001. In Monday's results, the ISP said that turnover grew by 50 percent sequentially from STG0.6 million to STG0.9 million and costs were reduced to STG0.7 million from STG1 million.

"The Internet side has done well," said Scott Taunton, chief executive officer of UTV Internet, speaking to ElectricNews.Net. "The division moved into profitability in March and we expect it to continue to be profitable."

Taunton said that UTV Internet's profits were derived from a range of activities including advertising, ISP revenues, Web hosting and Web development. Just over 40 percent of UTV Internet customers are in the Republic and the company claims to be the third largest ISP in Ireland.

UTV has recently launched a new flat-rate off-peak Internet service in the Republic of Ireland. Taunton said that the response to UTV's flat-rate Internet service had been "fantastic" and that UTV is now offering three flat-rate products. The first offers unlimited off-peak Internet access for EUR30 per month. The second offering, "UTVip Lite," offers 30 hours of off-peak access per month for EUR10.99 and a third product offers peak-time Internet access for EUR0.018 per minute.

Customers wishing to avail of UTV's Internet access must also avail of UTV's telephony services, which are available to anyone in Ireland with an Eircom line and will be delivered using carrier pre-select (CPS).

UTV Internet's move to roll out its flat rate products comes just over a year after Esat, now Esat BT, withdrew Ireland's only flat-rate offering. Esat said at the time that this was because some customers were using the Surf No-Limits service excessively and that due to Eircom charges such a product was not economically viable. However, last week Esat BT re-launched a flat-rate Net service for the Republic, offering packages and prices similar to those of UTV Internet.

In Monday's half-year results, parent company UTV reported turnover of STG22.5 million for the six months to the end of June 2002, down from the STG43 million reported to the end of December 2001. The broadcasting company also reported an operating profit of STG5.9 million to the end of June 2002, down from the STG12 million reported to the end of the previous year. UTV's profit for the period was STG3.7 million, down from the STG4.4 million reported for the same period in the year before and also down from the STG11.9 million reported for the previous six month.

"In all this uncertainty, it would not yet be appropriate to predict a definite return to growth," said chairman John McGuckian, in a statement. "Nevertheless, it would be equally inappropriate to ignore some positive signals which are beginning to emerge in our television business."

ando

its great to see the demand as 'fantastic' I'd love to shove them results up philip nolan's **** hehehe

although, there has been some rumors of utv's service, and personally, i have been dissapointed with the pings/latency on isdn, but scott has said they are working on it as we speak I really hope it gets sorted to be inline with esat/indigo

Yoda

Was going to sign up for this today, but the phone line in my new house hasn't been transferred into my name yet. :-(

I did find that UTV's free dialup service is very slow; 1.6 KB per second yesterday to download a 16MB software update from Apple. :-( I assume that the UTVip service is faster on a 56K modem, or that if it isn't they are working on it....

netman

I would imagine that they're using the same infrastructure for both services. Could be wrong, but you never know.

Looking forward to seeing comments from people who are using the service.

Neil_Sedaka

Originally posted by netman
I would imagine that they're using the same infrastructure for both services. Could be wrong, but you never know.

Looking forward to seeing comments from people who are using the service.

Hey Netman,

How's life in Dublin 9?

Stephen.

netman

hehe it's not bad. getting used to this sharing the house business. wonder how it's gonna be when the two girls come back from their holidays... somehow i'm not looking forward to sharing the bathroom with three women. thank god for showers in work, i might get to use them now

ando

Originally posted by netman
Looking forward to seeing comments from people who are using the service.

me too, has to be soon now