Is IOL Broadband actually available?

Hobbes

I put in request for it a few weeks ago on thier online form. Never heard from them.

Thinking there may be something wrong with the form I filled it out again.

Two weeks later I still hadn't heard anything. So I ring them. I'm now told that IOL Broadband won't be rolled out for a few days and I'll get more details in a day or so?? The person wouldn't even take my details, only my name.

eth0_

It's not available till June, I heard.

spongebob

Nobody will be switched on until early June. Eircom already have a large backlog of wholesale connection .

IOL are fine tuning their product (again) . They originally differentiated themselves from Eircom with their generous 1Gb a month extra allowance. As Netsource have wrecked this strategy, IOL are twiddling around again with their package. They are also being forced to consider self install and self provisioning of modems.

Their staff will not confirm or deny the 5Gb Cap that ESAT themselves announced in March. That is because ESAT will either keep the cap and drop the price OR keep the price and increase the Cap.

The rumour from the bunker is that they are considering reselling

512/128 10GB €49.99 a month 48:1 contention (including VAT)

They had originally announced they would be reselling

512/128 5GB €49.49 a month 48:1 contention (including VAT)

ESAT's original DSL Residential product was

256/128 4GB €60 a month and only 1:1 contention owing to low takeup.

As we found out during the past 6 months, it was really not a product at all . ESAT couldn't or wouldn't supply it to anyone who didn't hound them daily for months about it. ESAT only launched it to spoil the Eircom RADSL product announcement. Not only did the spoiler not work, ESAT are being badly cannibalised by Netsource who have an Uncapped product at around a third of what ESAT would charge for Uncapped. Despite being the cheapest DSL product 'available' in Ireland for around 3 months ESAT only installed it for around 30 customers.

(Thanks for correction Sceptic, checked me PM's again)

SkepticOne

Originally posted by Muck

512/128 5GB €54 a month 48:1 contention (including VAT)

/B]

Current price is €49.49. Download limit is 5 gigs according to the website. Are you suggesting that they may raise the prices?

patrickmooney

Well I rang them and am getting the paper application form tomorrow. They sent it out to me last night. I was informed there was a three week set up period (I suppose this includes time to launch etc?!?!)

MDR

Esat,

Are they that scared of Netsource ? Given that Netsource will only talk to you if you are a business, although in fairness, I will answer my own question by saying that Esat, is most internested in the business customers.

They will probabily do something quite along the lines of introduce an uncapped product for slightily more expense than netsource (a couple of € dearer), selling cheaper phonecalls etc and value added muck with the product, to make it more attractive.

They will retain their starter product as is, and increase the cap to 10 or 12 gig. This won't cost them big money and should staive Eircom and Netsource off nicely ....

Shamo

Originally posted by patrickmooney
Well I rang them and am getting the paper application form tomorrow. They sent it out to me last night. I was informed there was a three week set up period (I suppose this includes time to launch etc?!?!)

I just rang up and got the forms sent out aswell (i'm based in wexford), she didn't mention a setup period or anything though.

50Cent

i love competition...:D

Paulw

I was told end May or early June for installation.

bizmark

so whats happening so?

will they still be launching when they said they will ........i called them a week ago and they took my details so i asume that the forms will be on their way to me 2

seems weird :rolleyes:

well i guess a extra 2 weeks wait for 5 gig more cap is alright
does anyone have any rock hard prove of what is happening ?

shinzon

I have a sneaky suspicion that they wont give me this new DSL product either, I passed there line tests for there 60 euro a month DSL product, hope that doesnt mean i cant get this new product if and when it comes out

SHIN

it seems that if you pass for the dearer BB products then you cant get the cheaper ones due to god knows what.

Synkronite

As long as they dont drag their feet like t hey did with their residential 256/128 package, making difficult for *everyone* to get it........

Esat despite being given the opportunity to be hailed as the one to undercut Eircom and take away competition, does no better than taking advantage of Eircom's monopoly to keep similarily high prices...

It's one company that has been losing respect fast ever since the No Limits incident (Even then only those who hounded them to stay on were let to stay on..)

Da Man

Why waste your time with those clowns? Isn't the Netsource offering cheaper? Until I started dealing with Esat in its various forms, I thought Eircom was bad. Eircom is a shining light in comparison to Esat.

eth0_

Originally posted by Da Man
Why waste your time with those clowns? Isn't the Netsource offering cheaper? Until I started dealing with Esat in its various forms, I thought Eircom was bad. Eircom is a shining light in comparison to Esat.

Patrickmooney - I was also told 3-4 weeks for install, as the product is still being tested and can't be rolled out yet.
Anyway, i'd just like to put this to ye all, muck i'd be especially interested in your opinion. It seems like everyone is flooding netsource with applications. Yes, they have no cap. BUT! Considering they have 48:1 contention, am I the only one who forsees this getting very oversubscribed and thus very slow at peak times? Would be interesting to see how many applications the big three have received so far for RADSL, eh?

bizmark

i agree i think netsourse could be bad for gamers

BendiBus

Originally posted by eth0_
It seems like everyone is flooding netsource with applications.

Based on posts to this board? I would imagine you KNOW most of the people applying for a domestic service from them. Outside this board, most people won't even have heard of them.

That's my guess.

MadsL

i agree i think netsourse could be bad for gamers

...based on what exactly bizmark??? sheesh...


eth0 - who doesn't have 48:1 at that price point?...Esat can only offer lower contention (24:1) at the 90 euro price point.

eth0_

Originally posted by MadsL

eth0 - who doesn't have 48:1 at that price point?...Esat can only offer lower contention (24:1) at the 90 euro price point.

Uh...I never said netsource were the only ones, read what I said again, madsl. About the no cap and the extra subscribers and the resultant slowing and the grinding of teeth and and...

MadsL

Oh I'm sorry, eth0_ it all makes more sense now...Netsource are crap because they offer a better product and customer service, ie uncapped broadband at a reasonable price - I thought that was what we were all looking for all these years...

...assuming that Netsource care about providing a decent service, of which there is every sign so far, what evidence do you have to say that this product will be inferior once eircom get their finger out and install the damn thing??

..btw I'm still waiting for ESAT to even offer a product...

and eircom...well, say no more...

Any vested interest there eth0_ ???

spongebob

Originally posted by eth0_
It seems like everyone is flooding netsource with applications. Yes, they have no cap. BUT! Considering they have 48:1 contention, am I the only one who forsees this getting very oversubscribed and thus very slow at peak times? Would be interesting to see how many applications the big three have received so far for RADSL, eh?

Testing .....humm!

I agree with your math Eth0

If there are 48 users sharing 512kBit , then they can all download 3.33Gb in a month MAXIMUM, assuming that they can organise going on line in sequence for around 15 hours and then stopping for the rest of the month.

15 hours is the natural limit bacause

1. There are 30 days in a month
2. There are 48 users on the DSLAM

30/48 - .625
15/24 = .625

You may also be sure that Eircom will not lower the contention to a more normal (internationally) 24:1

Eircom seem to have left it up to the wholesale customer (Netsource or Esat) to control the ratios for their own customers.

M

shinzon

Thank you for your enquiry regarding our new Ireland On-Line
Broadband service which launches this month offering FASTER
Internet Access at an AFFORDABLE flat rate fee!

I'd like to bring you up-to-date with a number of developments.

First of all we will start to process orders for IOL Broadband
before the end of May.


Another piece of news you may find interesting is that we
have now added a Self Install Broadband option at an
unbelievable price of €90! This compliments the Engineer
Install option priced at €190.


Remember there is no charge for the modem (worth €145)
with either of these options, which are considerably cheaper
than the eircom offerings, plus the monthly rental is almost €5 less!




Option IOL Broadband eircom i-stream
SELF INSTALL € 90* € 244.20**
ENGINEER INSTALL € 190* € 344.85**
* No charge for the modem for the duration of your contract.
(Modem remains the property of Esat BT).
** Based on eircom installation price plus the cost of an eircom modem



Help us get you up and running by
selecting which installation option you wish to take


We will be in contact with you again before the end of the month and look forward to confirming your order for IOL Broadband. We appreciate your interest in the product and your patience in waiting for the best.


Shin

patrickmooney

Just received an email from the IOL Broadband team confirming they will start processing orders this month. It also suppies a link to confirm which option you want, either self install or engineer etc. Rather funny I think, but the email closes with
"We appreciate your
interest in the product and your patience in waiting for the best"

shinzon

i hope that e-mail means i can get bb with someone, but i bet anything come the end of the month theyll ring up test my line and then tell me to f off

hope not as ive already passed there residential 60 euro product and the 90 euro business package

self install is the only reason i wasnt going with them, because they didnt have one, but now they do i might go with them

shin

pete

Originally posted by shinzon
i hope that e-mail means i can get bb with someone, but i bet anything come the end of the month theyll ring up test my line and then tell me to f off

All they've confirmed so far is that it's "available in your area" - i'm in exactly the same boat. They're operating out of the same telephone exchange as Eircom / Netsource - neither of which are able to provide me with DSL as i'm too far from the exchange. I can't imagine esat will miraculously be able to either.

edit: I'd love to know what the hell ESAT are up to - i clicked to "confirm" that i was interested in self-install & get this:

Thank you for choosing the
Self Install Install Modem Option.

You already know Broadband is available in
your area, however you may not
have checked if your phone line is suitable.

To check and see if your line is suitable please enter your eircom account number here.

So i enter my account number, thinking i'll be getting the usual "Your twine is crap. Please go away" message, but instead:

Thank you for choosing the
Self Install Install Modem Option.

We will be in contact with you again before the end of the month and look forward to confirming your order for IOL Broadband.

Is that a yes? A maybe? A possibly?

Why do i insist on torturing myself like this???

Hobbes

FFS this is a joke. Is it even legal?

I got the same spam mail which basically means I won't even get my order looked at until the end of the month, and even then it will take a while before installation. Add that to the time left waiting when registering.

Also it was only after some investigation on the site that it's mentioned in the FAQ that the service doesn't start until mid-may. No mention of that when I was looking at the "Register now" page.

I think you should actually have a service available before trying to sell it. >:/

spongebob

Originally posted by Hobbes

I think you should actually have a service available before trying to sell it. >:/

Comreg have no policy on Vapour Peddling but if they did .....

shinzon

---

Thank you for choosing the
Self Install Install Modem Option.

You already know Broadband is available in
your area, however you may not
have checked if your phone line is suitable.

To check and see if your line is suitable please enter your eircom account number here.

---

the above didnt happen to me, i jusy clicked on the self install option and got well be in contact with you shortly, no eircom account number was asked for.

am i right in thinking though that in some exchanges esat have separate dslams to eircom, I kinda got that impression here when i was talking to esat about the 60 euro offering awhile back

Shin

eth0_

Originally posted by MadsL

...assuming that Netsource care about providing a decent service, of which there is every sign so far, what evidence do you have to say that this product will be inferior once eircom get their finger out and install the damn thing??

Madsl. Please read again what I said. I was hypothesizing. I did not say it was fact that netsource will be crap, I had the thought and I asked for opinions. Read also what muck thinks of my question.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by shinzon
am i right in thinking though that in some exchanges esat have separate dslams to eircom, I kinda got that impression here when i was talking to esat about the 60 euro offering awhile back

They have DSLAMs in about 40 exchanges, however they only offer business priced DSL out of these. Furthermore, they only operate standard DSL (not RADSL) so the proportion of lines that can avail of the service is likely to be even less than Eircom's RADSL.

spongebob

Originally posted by eth0_
Madsl. Please read again what I said. I was hypothesizing. I did not say it was fact that netsource will be crap, I had the thought and I asked for opinions. Read also what muck thinks of my question.

I did think you were asking for a hypothesis of how RADSL could work out over the next 6 months Eth0_ , my modelling is a bit simplistic but does point out that Eircom cannot guarantee what they are selling (data wise) and not even to their own customers who have the lowest CAPs . I feel that anything under 24:1 is dishonest .

If 48 users are sharing 512k at A GIVEN MOMENT then they have 10.66k each which is only ONE FIFTH the speed of a Top Class Analogue Modem Connection. Broadband me hind leg.

The Eirecom wholesale offer seems to indicate that the contention rates are set by the wholesale customers. This is discussed fiurther on, see Flavourflavs comments.

M

SkepticOne

Originally posted by Muck
If 48 users are sharing 512k at A GIVEN MOMENT then they have 10.66k each which is only ONE FIFTH the speed of a Top Class Analogue Modem Connection. Broadband me hind leg.

This is the big issue at the moment. There have been people on here talking about how expensive bandwidth is (however not providing figures), but the fact is that even if bandwdith to Eircom's handover point was free, the ISP has no option to feed more bandwidth into the system. The 48:1 contention ratio is fixed. If, for example, Netsource, found that they were attracting heavy users and speeds were dropping to below dial up, they would have no option to decrease the contention ratio (as setting on the DSLAM) as this is controlled by Eircom.

By fixing the ratio, Eircom are preventing a competitive bandwidth market from emerging.