anything I can do?

shan

Hi guys
Firstly I apologise if this has been brought up hundreds of times before, I have searched and can't find exactly what Im looking for and secondly please excuse the rather lengthy posting.
Last Sept I changed my phone provider to utvinternet because they offered me a good rate on internet access. Since then eircom have telephoned me approx twice a month, called out to the house once and written twice to find out why I left, who I was with and did I want to return to them. After the last call I sent them an email telling them I'd had enough and would they kindly for the hundreth time cease! I also put in the mail that despite the fact that my modem has the capability of connecting at 115200, 57600, 38400, 19200, 9600 and 4800 the only way I can connect is to keep it at 9600 and if they could offer me a better service than this I would reconsider coming back to them. I live in a very rural part of the midlands, when the wind blows the phones go out! The reply I got was basically we're taking you off the phone list and
<quote>
You are currently serviced by an analogue (PSTN) line which unfortunately does not guarantee any speed at all on the Internet. It is a line which has been provided to you to provide you with a voice service and unfortunately, it is not a line we can guarantee anything else on. This includes the Internet.
<end quote>
The reason Im posting here is to find out is this it??...Thats all I get??...Isn't there anything else on offer??...As I said above I live in a very rural part of the country so does this mean basically Im at the mercy of eircom for the forseeable??

Again apologies for the long thread
Shan

BArra

satellite

spongebob

Originally posted by shan

<quote>
You are currently serviced by an analogue (PSTN) line which unfortunately does not guarantee any speed at all on the Internet. It is a line which has been provided to you to provide you with a voice service and unfortunately, it is not a line we can guarantee anything else on. This includes the Internet.
<end quote>
The reason Im posting here is to find out is this it??...Thats all I get??...Isn't there anything else on offer??...As I said above I live in a very rural part of the country so does this mean basically Im at the mercy of eircom for the forseeable??

Again apologies for the long thread
Shan

Yep. This sad state of affairs repeats itself again.

1. This is wrong
2. Eircom have a universal service obligation (minimum standard for all analogue lines) dated March 1999 ... THe USO
3. This USO GUARANTEES 2400 synchronous speeds for data including internet on every Eircom analogue line in the country.
4. If an Eircom employee wrote to you, stating baldly,
"It is a line which has been provided to you to provide you with a voice service and unfortunately, it is not a line we can guarantee anything else on."

Therefore

That employee is breaching the USO and if you cannot get 2400 because of 'random disconnects' wink wink then you should complain direct to Comreg about Eircoms attitude to these random disconnects at 2400.

Enclose what they wrote to you as evidence.

M

shan

Thank you so much! The quote I gave was taken cut and paste directly from the email recieved from eircom yesterday. I will go ahead and write to comreg enclosing my mail and his reply. One more question. Where do I write and do they have an email addy.
Again thank you for the info.

Shan

spongebob

www.comreg.ie

complaints page

Eircom are

"In Material Breach Of their Regulatory Obligations under the 1999 USO"

in stating that an analogue line is voice only nd not data. It must support a sustained 2400 speed at all times. Yours 'ahem' disconnects at this speed when its windy. The line must be repaired to the USO standard which is continous 2400 , cough ahem. The gob****e wrote this in an email , forward the mail to the investigator in Comreg when you get an answer to the initial complaint.

Send a detailed complaint, names dates etc.

If you ring Eircom with an issue in future then

1. Always get the Biddys full name
2. Always ask what office they are in
3. Always demand it be recorded on their system and that you are given a ticket number immediately

any refusal to comply with 1. 2. 3. is a breach of regulatiry obligations.

Naturally you did not 'cough cough' attempt to maintain a higher connect speed because of your gimpy line.

Tell us how it goes.

M

shan

I certainly will I'll get on to that tomorrow evening. You've been very kind so Im going to take advantage of you one more time (last one, I promise) As you've probably gathered Im not too offay with all the terminology. When I put my cursor on the two flashing screens on the bottom right of the screen it reads sent@9600bps......how does that translate to 2400??

Thanks again
Shan

spongebob

say 2400 in the complaint

9600 or 2400 are both sh1te.

You have a right to

1. Use your line for data (never mind the €ircon muppet)
2. Get 2400 sustained speed while so doing (the USO sez that)
3. You do not have a right to 9600 so dont confuse the issue.
4. Simply complain about your inability to maintain a 2400 connection because of the crap €ircon wires and the wind.

Your case is points 1 2 and 4

By inspecting and rewiring your line to make it compliant with points 1 2 and 4, it is likely that you will get an improvement of up to 100% on your data speeds.

M

raeGten

Good Luck with your complaint Shan.
It kills me to have to pay so much in line rental to Eircom when I don't even make that many calls. I spend far more just to HAVE a phone. But if I was spending all that money and I kept getting disconnected when it got a bit windy!!!....
Let us know how you get on.

shan

Hi Guys

Well I mailed off to comreg and they got back to me pronto! Spoke to a really nice guy who was very happy to hear my story and answer it point by point.....He was on the phone to me a very long time so here are the bare bones.

1. As regards a PSTN line, the present EU directive and Irish law states that the universal service directive says that eircom only have to provide a voice capable line. This directive it would seem dates back to the '70s, before the advent of internet. This is about to change come Nov/Dec this year, however comreg are only now collating the information collected from public meetings etc and the new uso rules have not been decided.

2. An average speed of 2.4kbs is quite acceptable.

3. I can apply to eircom for ADSL, however if I fail the prequalification test Im not told why and I just have to put up with the decision.

4. My next recourse would be to approach one of eircom's competitors and ask them for DSL, they will see if it is financially viable to do this for me and if so will approach eircom and get the job done, however if they don't deem it financially viable they'll also say no.

The gentleman I spoke with seem's to know his stuff, was extremly polite and very happy to explain things to me as detailed as possible. I got the feeling ( just a feeling, nothing he said) that they feel very tied to present legislation!! Im going to check out DSL, see what comes of it but to be honest guys, I don't hold out much hope. Will let you know what happens.

Thanks for all the advice, patience and help, will keep reading here and keep u all up to date if u wish.

Shan

spongebob

Originally posted by shan
.1. As regards a PSTN line, the present EU directive and Irish law states that the universal service directive says that eircom only have to provide a voice capable line. This directive it would seem dates back to the '70s, before the advent of internet. This is about to change come Nov/Dec this year, however comreg are only now collating the information collected from public meetings etc and the new uso rules have not been decided.


No new USO till Nov/Dec, christ on a bike. The directive comes in in 2 months precisely! I suspect FRIACO is down the swannee till then as well.


2. An average speed of 2.4kbs is quite acceptable.


I said sustained not average, which means that your disconnects , while connected at 2400....simply because it is windy...are not acceptable. see the doc, end page 5

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/odtr9931.pdf 200k

MUST and 2,400 mean MUST .

If Comreg decided that this basic line quality criteria was suspended when the wind speed hit 20kph then why is it not in the USO. Windy days are rare in Ireland so its only fair that Eircom considers them to be acts of God and won't engineer the network for them.

Strangely Comreg seem blissfully( or is that wilfully) ignorant of article 4 of the Directive EU DIRECTIVE 98/10/EC which states...

in RE: ALL LINES INSTALLED SINCE 01 01 1998

Whereas a fundamental requirement of universal service is to provide users on request with a connection to the fixed public telephone network at a fixed location, at an affordable price; whereas there should be no constraints on the technical means by which the connection is provided, allowing for wire or wireless technologies; services; whereas fixed public telephone network infrastructure newly installed after 1 January 1998 should be of a quality which supports, in addition to speech, data communications at rates suitable for access to online information

Said law was transposed (Officially Absolutely No Doubts About IT came in here) on the 15 04 1999 see

http://www.irlgov.ie/tec/communications/comlegislation/71S.I'99.htm

so your line , if LESS than 4 years old, should be compliant with the directive.

Have ya one of them 4-5 year old lines Shan ????? Yer man has had over 4 years to learn the law! EU Directives, ONCE transposed, are THE LAW.


4. My next recourse would be to approach one of eircom's competitors and ask them for DSL, they will see if it is financially viable to do this for me and if so will approach eircom and get the job done, however if they don't deem it financially viable they'll also say no.



other carriers, being customers, have a right to get crap cleaned off a line before they test it. ( The CLFMP as its known) In a delicious irony, I have found that a good way to get crap cleared off a line is to apply for Eircom phonewatch and keep 'triggering it' for the crack when its windy outside. Phonewatch bitch at Eircom and stuff gets done, cough!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The gentleman I spoke with seem's to know his stuff, was extremly polite and very happy to explain things to me as detailed as possible. I got the feeling ( just a feeling, nothing he said) that they feel very tied to present legislation!! Im going to check out DSL, see what comes of it but to be honest guys, I don't hold out much hope. Will let you know what happens.


Ahh yes, 'we have no power', the Comreg marching song. If it was turned into a rap song the Corrs would cover it.

M

Xian

Originally posted by Muck
No new USO till Nov/Dec, christ on a bike. The directive comes in in 2 months precisely!

Originally posted by Muck (April 30)
Now look at all the work that has to be done by Midnight Tonight according to their own Timeline ..... I refer to the instances of 'April' with no link such as the Response to USO consultation.

Funny how in the timeline you linked the instance of 'April' next to the Response to the USO consultation has become 'May', considering the fact that the original consultation (ComReg 02/116) had the following in Appendix 1, the "Indicative" Work Plan:

Issue date for response to consultation 21st March 2003

I'm in the wrong job, I tells ye!

spongebob

in the meantime a reading of that directive from 1998 I belatedly edited in above with italicised quote should be bedtime reading in Comreg, transposed 4 years now, it is the law!

any chance IoffL could write to Etain and say, wheres the feckin new USO lads and whats the excuse for the horrendous delay ?

M