TV3 Fluff Piece on Broadband

shinzon

just saw the journalistic might of TV3 coming to bear on the highly contentious issue of BB in this country

Highlights are as follows

1) Dialup is slow as was stated by some geezer in an internet cafe

3) a korean guy smoking a fag that stated that BB is cheaper in Korea DUH ?

3) all of 10 seconds on the launch for IBB, who was stated to actually be a new player in the broadband market

4) Another geezer in an internet cafe saying hed get BB if it was cheaper

Last but not least the piece finished with this little gem, "it seems the irish public are not interested in Broadband"

Nothing about eircoms imcompetence (would lose there weather sponsor there), nothing about netsource or esat

God will they ever learn

SHIN

flav0rflav

Those are all good points.

Dialup is slow. Korea (south) is better. IBB are (relatively) new, and everyone would get it if it was cheaper.

TV3 have out done themselves.

shinzon

lol

dahamsta

Time for a Boards DIS ©®™ (Patent Pending) (Distributed Information Service) attack on their email address with enlightenment I reckon.

[EMAIL=news@tv3.ie?subject=I Want Broadband!]Tell TV3 You Want Broadband![/EMAIL]

adam

pete

done

The Brigadier

Sent my Email to TV3

The Brigadier

Crikey,

TV3 don't half forward their mail to EVERYONE!:ninja: :ninja:



<<I Want Broadband!>> Your message

To: news@tv3.ie
Subject: I Want Broadband!
Sent: Thu, 8 May 2003 22:43:42 +0100

was delivered to the following recipient(s):

Paul Doyle on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Geoff Power on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
James O'Reilly on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Daniel Crozier on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Jerome Hughes on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Sharon Tobin on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Matt Naughton on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Brian o'donnell on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Richard O'Leary on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Aisling O'Loughlin on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Victoria O'brien on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Rachel Smalley on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Anne Mcadam on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Edel Kennedy on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Claire Brock on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Marie Mulcahy on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Will Goodbody on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Dave Kelly on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Joanne Cantwell on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Alan Campbell on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Colette Fitzpatrick on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Laura Ryan on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Allison Colins on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Conor Tiernan on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Elaine Crowley on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Sybil Mulcahy on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Brian Daly on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Kieran Devaney on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Des Curran on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Darren Frehill on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Bob Hughes on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Rachael Cummins on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Richard Canny on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Philippe Brodeur on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Stephen Cullinane on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Yvonne Doyle on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Orla Nolan on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER
Ursula Halligan on Thu, 8 May 2003 22:44:49 +0100
MSEXCH:MSExchangeMTA:TV3_DUBLIN:COMPAQ_SERVER

Paddy20

Maybe the "Bum Fluff rubbish" programme inserts, will now vanish, in favour of the good old fashioned truth ?..

Paddy20:eek:

spongebob

Originally posted by Paddy20
Maybe the "Bum Fluff rubbish" programme inserts, will now vanish, in favour of the good old fashioned truth ?..

Paddy20:eek:

ah Jayzus Paddy , its TV3 we're talking about. The Star displays more intellectual rigour thn TV3 when it comes to news.

M

shinzon

Glad people are trying to at least get TV3s attention and explain there woeful knowledge of the Broadband situation in Ireland

Would love to see a proper piece of reporting done on this and have eircom raked over the coals

I can only live in hope

SHIN

OHP

Well this is what I sent. Would have liked to have had more time to think it out and probabally worded it a bit better. But it would be interesting to see if they do actually put a Survey on their site.

<SNIP>Hi,

I live between Athlone and Moate (closer to Moate) Co. Westmeath. I would dearly love to have Broadband at an affordable rate. But my Eircom Line keeps failing their Broadband Test for one reason or another. Most of the people that live in my area that actually have an Internet Connection have lost interest in it because it is so slow to use and extremely expensive. I used to let my kids use the Internet for their homework when I had a 56k connection and some files that they needed (eg. 3 to 4mb in size) used to take forever to download. Doing that several times every 2 months resulted in some hefty Eircom phone bills averaging £300 - £370+. (Yes Pounds not Euros) UTV brought out a Flat rate Internet Package costing €30 per month for 150 hours off peak usage and call charges that are 25% cheaper than Eircom and within the first week of it launching they were inundated with people switching their accounts to them to get away from Eircom's phone and internet charges. Try asking Eircom how many lines (Their Lines) have failed their Broadband test and that will truly show you the amount of interested people that want Broadband in Ireland. If you are really are interested in finding out what people think of Broadband availability and pricing in Ireland why not put a Survey on your site with some headings like:

Location: - (City, Town, County)

Have you got Broadband:- (Yes / No )?

If no state reasons why:- (Eg. Line Failed Test, Not available in my area, etc.)

If yes please answer the following questions.

Are you happy with its performance:- (Yes / No)?

Cost Per Month:- (€'s)

Is there a Cap:- (Yes / No)? (Amount)

Cost if user goes over Cap:- (€'s)

Installation Fee:- (€'s)

Is Modem Supplied:- (Yes / No) (Cost €'s)

Remarks:- (Leave space for remarks)

And so on. And then publish the results of your findings after a month or so. But in the mean time if you can do anything to that would allow me get Broadband I would be really grateful.

Kindest regards, <SNIP>

Well I tried

OHP

spongebob

Originally posted by OHP

I live between Athlone and Moate (closer to Moate) Co. Westmeath.
OHP

did you tell them about that 0.1 GW Medium Wave Transmitter that interferes with the lines where you live ...I heard 2FM singing out of a fax machine in Mountemple once

OHP

Damn it Muck I thought I had it tuned into Midlands Radio 3

OHP

spongebob

I'm not joking , the dialtone was background noise. Ye should all lobby RTE to lay fibre to the home out there or get TV3 to send Grainne down to report

Balfa

I mailed em too. I urge everyone else to do so.

Woden

ah i sent them a real nice email, shin i liked you comment about the weather sponsor so i slotted it in

shinzon

My e-mail I sent

---

My own story is similar to what most of the population are getting in response to there queries about Broadband from eircom

On the 11th of april I passed my line test for broadband, I went to order it from eircom 5 days later and it failed, I have to this day received no adequate response as to why it failed, i am within the limits for the exchange that has been DSL enabled, the copper should be well up to the standard for carrying the signal ETC ETC.

To date ive contacted the government comreg and yourselves as reagrds this issue, and so far all im getting back is that were looking into it and well get back to you.

talking to eircom is like talking to a brick wall, 15 phone calls and e-mails later still nothing, comreg has instructed them to ring me, have they, no.

So I was quite surprised to see your piece on Broadband on last nights TV3 news, while most of the stuff you reported on was true the way you reported it was woefully substandard, I mean a korean guy smoking a fag telling the average viewer who would be thinking of getting Broadband that its cheaper in korea is not the way to go.

Organisations like Irelandoffline have been campaigining for years to get unmeterd 24/7 internet for the masses and pieces like yours last night put the cause back 10 years.

What you should be doing is highlighting the alarming number of line failures in DSL enabled areas, why Eircom are only keeping to half there promise to comreg when comreg directed them to get BB for the masses, highlight the issue of the 950 exchanges that will never be upgraded to broadband as eircom deems them to small to do so, look into other alternatives to BROADBAND like esat or NETSOURCE (www.netsource.ie).

In order for joe public to maintain interest in broadband educate them, not bombard them with useless statistics, if you want to get the real story on Broadband invite one of the Irelandoffline lobbyists onto your programme, they can be reached here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=60

Regards
*******

---

If i seee another BB item tonight because of these e-mails Ill do a dance LOL

SHIN

Paddy20

Well TV3,

Where is your answer? too all the people who are
seriously upset at your pro Eircom shoddy propagandist Journalism.

Are you aware that broadcasting misleading statements is against regulations and this could have a very detrimental effect on you having your broadcasting license renewed!.

Or is your "Public relations department" totally frightened of the truth!

Yours, Still waiting!!..

Paddy20:mad: :mad:

matthiku

Here is my email: (my apologies only to the board readers for the length!)

In your recent broadcast concerning Internet and Broadband access you stated, it seems that the Irish public is not interested in Broadband. This is a dangerous statement and an unproved assumption, if not to say a complete reversal of the reality.

How can you show your interest in broadband if there is none available or simply too expensive? Have you ever tried to get it in this country? Where is the open market, the competition? Are you aware of the speedy development of Broadband in other countries? Do you think the Irish public is underdeveloped or undereducated and therefor not on the same level as people in the UK or other European countries? Please dig deeper in the future before you are going to repeat such kind of misleading statements again. It is a slap in the face of many people who want decent Internet Access and are held back by the prevailing incompetence and protectionism of the incumbent in the Irish telecommunications sector.

There are so many reasons for the perception of "not enough interest" that I don't even know where to start. First, it's the deception and misinformation and back-holding by Eircom. Take, for instance, their advertising about their so-badly-called "hi-speed" Internet Access product, advertised as if it were a brand new technology, yet being actually nothing else but an outdated, or at least ageing, more then 20-year old technology. 20 Years! That is the complete Stone Age on an Information Technology calendar! Then the misleading name "hi-speed" - as if it were not just 14% faster then the old 56k connection on a non-ISDN (analogue/PSTN) telephone line but costing nearly the double line rent! How do you think should the "normal" citizen, who is so much declined to believe everything from Eircom, especially when it is wrapped in some fancy, buzz-words stuffed colourful flyer, understand the difference between "hi-speed" and DSL?

And then, answer me one question: why should Eircom implement the "revenue-killer" DSL when they still can milk their clientele with the "free internet access" product, where actually the clock ticks away about one Euro every hour you are online? And this is revenue going directly into Eircom's pockets, no matter whether you use Eircom.net or any other so-badly-called "free" Internet access products; while DSL or a Flat-rate Dial-Up product would only save the customers money?

I want to give you two personal examples: About 5 years ago, when I came to the so highly praised "Information Age Town" Ennis, I went to the Telecom shop to ask for an upgrade of my line to ISDN! They just looked at me as if I came from another galaxy. I had ISDN where I lived before (DSL was just a baby at that time) and it was something taken for granted in that country. Later, I discovered that ISDN was only available for businesses (due to the high costs anyway, I presume).

Another example: 3 of my kids are in Secondary and 2 are in Primary School. How do you think should I afford to give them decent Internet Access for their homework with a slow and costly "free Internet"? If each of them would go online just for one hour a day (which is not much, if you know kids), I would have to pay about more then 100 Euro a month, just for the "Free Internet" access! No thanks, that's impossible to bear in the long run! (Though it happened from time to time).

And did you know that Eircom only has to guarantee for 9600 baud on their PSTN lines? And yes, our line was so bad that we rarely could get more then 33k instead of the theoretically possible 56k. And it took ages and many retries to get the connection at all. So spending time on the Internet was not a funny experience, especially with those fancy (but transmission-intensive) websites nowadays. How do you think people would enjoy and find out about the possibilities and opportunities on the internet under such dire circumstances?

No wonder that there is little demand if it is suppressed in such dimensions as it has been in Ireland. I just ask you to visit the WebPages www.eircomtribunal.com or www.irelandoffline.org for more facts and information.

Or for a good world reality check, read the folowing article from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,907951,00.html

Or read the refreshingly realistic editorials from Fergus Cassidy from The Sunday Tribune:
e.g. http://www.ethos.org/phonebills.html or
http://www.ethos.org/electricdreams.html

I just needed to air this to somebody. So I used the opportunity....:D Thanks, Adam, for yor idea!

Praetorian

I sent one aswell. Although, I must admit it feels like a waste of time. I'm not going to be optimistic about broadband at home in my lifetime. I'll have to move.

Trebor

just sent mine

maybe they could do an agenda special, it's the only thing i watch on TV3

spongebob

david.mcwilliams@tv3.ie I think or else agenda@tv3.ie .......... he's the only sentient being in the whole goddam station (apart from Frank Stapleton) .

David would be into the economic consequences of what will happen if we dont roll out loadsa Broadband fast. S Korea is a handy comparison. If the Economist magazine mentions it David will cover it .

was grainne.seoighe@tv3.ie not on the list, I thought she did news

dahamsta

Great email, well done matthiku. If they reply, tell them that you made a mistake: The minimum Eircom has to supply is 2400 baud, as was pointed out to me only recently.

adam

Dangger

David would be into the economic consequences of what will happen if we dont roll out loadsa Broadband fast.

I wouldn't bank on that. He questioned the need for it at all when addressing a roomful of delegates at O2's Digital Media Conference last week. He was stirring controversey obviously.

Venom

Sent them off a little note about copping the fúck on and doing some research.

spongebob

The Economist will have pointed McWilliams of a recent Dot Com Boom .....I kid y'all not .

Tied in with that is the recent announcement by Google that they are coming here too.

It ain't 1999 all over again but its a hopeful sign.

M

Occidental

Originally posted by Muck
did you tell them about that 0.1 GW Medium Wave Transmitter that interferes with the lines where you live ...I heard 2FM singing out of a fax machine in Mountemple once

2FM is available on most phone lines between Glassan and Moate on a permanent basis. The sad part is that most people don't even notice it at this stage, although they have given up trying to use the Internet because it's so bloody slow. Still, they do have the added comfort of knowing that the local landscape is awash with dark fibre, and DSL won't be coming to darken their door anytime soon.

I don't think TV3 would have a map that includes Moate, as they're not allowed to travel beyond the M50.

shinzon

Was probably expecting to much fro TV3 to do something with all the e-mail they received following last nights BB debacle.

Great the way they can choose to ignore a newsworthy story when it suits there pockets and revenue to do so, mainly having eircom as there sponsor, what a laugh

SHIN

OHP

Excellent post matthiku wish i'de thought of all that. Anyone notice that TV3 are ignoring us and our comments? Eircon all over again aint it?

OHP

sceptre

I've also sent a little note. Another voice promoting re-education can't go amiss.

This is just a quick mail re your story on the Irish Broadband official launch.

With regard to the comment: "it seems the Irish public are not interested in Broadband", doing a little research before making such a sweeping statement may be advisable in the future. Market research done by the Commission for Telecoms Regulation (Comreg) has demonstrated that any broadband product costing in excess of about 35-40 euros per month will result in a very low takeup. There is no product available in Ireland near such a price level (save a cable rollout in Dublin 24). That's assuming that one could order it, even if it were available. Eircom's exchange rollout has hit a brick wall, Esat have failed to advertise any product until very recently (despite a product being available at a cost of over 100 euros per month for the last year), NTL's cable rollout is limited to Tallaght and parts of Dublin 6, Chorus have had most of their wireless broadband licences revoked for non-compliance and the more reputable (and successful) commercial wireless networks are limited to various parts of South Dublin.

I'm lucky in some ways - I live in the centre of Limerick. Esat have had a DSL product available here for the past eighteen months. At over EUR100 per month (before the recent price-drops), no sane home user would order such a product. Even with the newer product available at about EUR60 per month, it's still well above the price point indicated by Comreg as the key price point to ignite interest. Priding myself on my sanity, I've elected not to order the EUR60 per month product. If I wanted to be robbed I could just go out into the street and wave my wallet around.

That's the quick rant over. Next time, guys, please ask someone before making a comment that certainly doesn't reflect reality. Those chaps on www.irelandoffline.org have been campaigning for universal availability of broadband (or just flat-rate 56k) in Ireland at a reasonable price for over two years. Anyone on their webforum (www.boards.ie/irelandoffline) could have told you that quite a few people do want broadband - they just don't feel like paying among the highest rates in the world for it.

Regards

Seamus Ryan
Limerick

(Comreg are of course the Commission for Communications Regulation rather than Telecoms - it was pretty late when I sent the above (coherency during the day is difficult enough, late at night it's a luxury beyond my means))

corkie

Originally posted by shinzon

Last but not least the piece finished with this little gem, "it seems the irish public are not interested in Broadband"

It is that just another one of those Irish Myths or hype ?

An interesting articale on www.infomaticsonline.co.uk under the
title of

Broadband is essential, says Europe | European Commission outlines vision for a 'global information society'

Stephen Marsh, director of the Cabinet Office Central Sponsor for Information Assurance division, pointed out that hype is a dangerous tactic if European and national objectives are to be achieved.

Another articale which gives me the sense of D-J-Vu is here
Tiscali puts cap on dial-up service