TodayFM @1730: IrelandOffline, eircom, ComReg and Ice Broadband

damien

End of year roundtable discussion on the Last Word show on TodayFM this evening at 1730. On it will be Rex Combs, CEO of eircom, John Doherty, ComReg Commissioner, Fran Rooney from Ice Broadband and Damien Mulley from IrelandOffline.

TodayFM assured me that ComReg know we'll be there. Will ComReg actually interact with us this time? Sounds like a mini-soap opera. Tune in tonight to find out.

I strongly suggest listening in and if you want to make a comment then email: lastword@todayfm.com or text in using the shortcode: 53102 (Normal text rates apply)

mayhem#

And what is the purpose of the discussion?
I find the representation a bit skewed anyway;
- Eircom, the incumbent that everybody expects to do something that thet never will, or should, do (i.e. LLU).
- Comreg, a government body that has in the past proven itself to be more inclined to confuse than to regulate.
- Ice Broadband, who do they actually represent (besides themselves).
- And Damien Mulley, apparently the only authority on broadband in Ireland (no offense intended).

I expect to hear the same old story and arguments....

E.

Liam Byrne

Pity they didn't invite someone from Smart - that'd make it really interesting!

damien

mayhem# wrote:

- And Damien Mulley, apparently the only authority on broadband in Ireland (no offense intended).

Or maybe the only person not in it for profit or to sell a product of some sort.

mayhem#

damien.m wrote:

Or maybe the only person not in it for profit or to sell a product of some sort.

Damien, like I said "no offense intended".
However are you really the only person qualified in Ireland to talk on this subject?

E.

Altreab

damien.m wrote:

End of year roundtable discussion on the Last Word show on TodayFM this evening at 1730. On it will be Rex Combs, CEO of eircom, John Doherty, ComReg Commissioner, Fran Rooney from Ice Broadband and Damien Mulley from IrelandOffline.

TodayFM assured me that ComReg know we'll be there. Will ComReg actually interact with us this time? Sounds like a mini-soap opera. Tune in tonight to find out.

I strongly suggest listening in and if you want to make a comment then email: lastword@todayfm.com or text in using the shortcode: 53102 (Normal text rates apply)

Ah Comreg may be at the table but will they interact with anyone other than Eircom and The interviewer? My guess is they wont
"Fran Rooney from Ice Broadband" ...is this the same Fran Rooney from Baltimore Technoligies and FAI Fame??

damien

mayhem# wrote:

However are you really the only person qualified in Ireland to talk on this subject?

I think John Timmons, Eamonn Wallace, Adam Beecher, Martin Harran, Christian Cooke, David Long, Gareth Pelly, he who posts as Mr. Man and Elana Kehoe could also go on and represent consumers and those without a commercial agenda.

Do I know of anyone else who would make a public comment? No, because most experts in these areas work in the commercial sector of the area they are an expert in and so cannot fully come out and give out about a Govt Dept, or regulator or large wholesaler if they want to maintain a healthy relationship with them. This is the reason we have many private people contributing to our knowledge but cannot go on air and criticise an entity that some might even be working for. Everyone carries a knife and watches their back in the telco sector.

If you have alternatives though I'd get on to the producer(Barbara Loftus) of TodayFM and let her know because their expert lists are tiny and I'm sure they'd welcome a bit of variety, but right now if asked for an alternative to myself, I'd only recommend the people I've named above as I trust them.

mayhem#

Damien,

I understand you're comment and it's a sad state of affairs that people are afraid to speak out.
Had already fired of an email to the show....

E.

ednwireland

Altreab wrote:

Ah Comreg may be at the table but will they interact with anyone other than Eircom and The interviewer? My guess is they wont
"Fran Rooney from Ice Broadband" ...is this the same Fran Rooney from Baltimore Technoligies and FAI Fame??

yep the very same - how the mighty have fallen#
my old boss used to model himself on fran that compaby went under !

Liam Byrne

Here's what I've just emailed:

Matt

I heard via boards.ie that you will be discussing broadband at 5.30

I have no vested interest anywhere, and I comment as someone who researched the best option available to me.

Now, as a very happy Smart customer, I have a few questions:

1) Why did I need to change my phone number in order to avail of the best package ?
2) How can eircom charge €75 for something (2MB with contention/sharing with neighbours) that isn't as good as Smart offer for €35 (3MB with no contention), despite the fact that Smart have to pay line rental to eircom ?
3) How can Ireland have the claimed level of coverage when I couldn't get eircom broadband in Limerick city (I was too far from the exchange at 6km; eircom only cover 5km while Smart cover 7km from the exchange)
4) Why did eircom issue misleading adverts saying that Smart customers needed to switch provided to keep their service (anyone who changed phone number did not have to) and why did ComReg not correct this misleading advert or pull eircom up on it until it was highlighted to them ? Even ComReg's website failed to reduce the panic at the time.
5) How much of eircom's actions were influenced by the fact that Smart had a 3G licence that eircom were likely to get by default if ComReg weren't happy with the state of Smart's operation ?

These are the questions, which, in the interest of openness, transparency, competition and consumer choice, need to be asked. It's a pity that you don't have anyone on from Smart to tackle, from the perspective of a company who's been on the receiving end, both eircom and ComReg.
--
Regards,
Liam Byrne
Limerick

Liam Byrne

Normally, Matt Cooper is on the ball, but I was stunned when he said that Smart was gone out of business! :eek:

Anyone listening probably heard my text, and while Matt was quick to read it, he covered his ass by saying that "....but it's a company that's had major problems". Why the caveat ? Every company has occasional cashflow problems and other issues; I worked in one before that let about 50 of 68 staff go, but they're still in business doing what they do and saying they were gone out of business would be a disaster for customer confidence and would cause major fallout.

The programme was specifically about broadband; any hassle that Smart had was related to their phone business and had no bearing on the discussion.

My opinion of The Last Word has just dropped......badly researched, and you CAN'T go on air and say that a company is gone bust if they're not.

I can't help thinking that Matt will be lucky if there isn't a legal case to be answered after that one - if anyone from Smart was listening there could be serious fallout from that cock-up.

As for the remaining content, it was very much more of the same rubbish being trotted out.....the ComReg guy was probably the weakest, trying to give off the impression that everything is just fine, and it was left to the IrelandOffline guy to challenge the eircom line, despite the fact that that's supposed to be ComReg's job.

mayhem#

Just listened to it and as I feared nothing really new was discussed.
They all used the latest buzzwords (Wimax, wireless, WiFi etc.) but the real issues were not addressed...

E.

mayhem#

I agree on the Smart issue.
People are discounting Smart but do not realise that the company is working very hard at a comeback. Keep watching that space..

E.