Smart Telecom excluding line rental

Tiesto · 09-03-2007 9:03pm #1

I just see smart telecom are no longer covering the line rental..
The actual cost of broadband is now €15.81 excluding line rental of 24.18 so its still basically the same price.
the only difference is you will have to pay eircom the line rental im guessing..

Im lucky, I just got in there for line rental and bb for 39.99 a month..
saves the hassle of seperate bills..

OfflerCrocGod · 09-03-2007 9:22pm

I doubt there is any difference - maybe they were getting lots of people asking about line rental so they decided to show it clearly in the bills from now on?

Same price and still a single bill.

Tiesto · 09-03-2007 10:06pm

OfflerCrocGod wrote:

I doubt there is any difference - maybe they were getting lots of people asking about line rental so they decided to show it clearly in the bills from now on? Same price and still a single bill.

Oh so people can still pay smart telecom for the line rental?

dub45 · 09-03-2007 10:18pm

This is much ado about nothing:rolleyes:

Smart are simply breaking out the cost of the bb from the monthly total of €39.99. With llu Smart take over the line from Eircom so the line rental is paid to Smart.

This may be one of the reasons to show the costs separately:

Q. Will my DSFA allowance be affected?

A. No, your monthly allowance will be credited to your Smart Telecom account.

Another reason may be the option to increase the basic bb speeds by paying extra which was not always available.

watty · 10-03-2007 10:13am

Even with ordinary CPS you can pay the eircom line rental to the provider. Given the current cost and fact it will rise, I imagine everyone will like to show how much goes to eircom.

Liam Byrne · 10-03-2007 3:55pm

It's also probably due to the various ads for "broadband" which don't specify that "this is on top of your standard line rental"

Think about it.

eircom ad says : get 1MB broadband for €24.99
eircom ad doesn't say : total price almost €50

Smart ad says : get 4MB broadband for €39.99

Customer mentally compares the €40 with the €24.99 and reckons that they're not going to pay the "extra" €15 just to get a better service, when in fact they'd be paying €10 less for a better service.

XJR · 10-03-2007 4:02pm

Liam Byrne wrote:

Customer mentally compares the €40 with the €24.99 and reckons that they're not going to pay the "extra" €15 just to get a better service, when in fact they'd be paying €10 less for a better service.

I'm with Smart now for sometime (phone and BB) and have absolutley no complaint only compliments - perfect uninterrupted service with no download / upload caps and a good line speed and all for what's probably the best value around.

They are still taking on BB customers so long as you are willing to move their phone to smart aswell - I thoroughly reccomend them, if for no other reason than they are not eircom !

Spunog UIE · 10-03-2007 9:46pm

what are the waiting times for getting Smart Broadband in these days?

Liam Byrne · 11-03-2007 10:54pm

XJR wrote:

I thoroughly reccomend them, if for no other reason than they are not eircom !

While I know where you're coming from with that, it's actually the least of the reasons for switching to them.

1) Service : 4 meg uncontended*
2) Price : At €15, the above is a steal!
3) Availability around enabled exchanges : Their technology works farther from the exchange than any of the eircom resellers
4) No caps
5) Great backup and support

In fact, the only sensible reason that ANYONE could quote AGAINST switching to Smart is the lack of availability in their area through (a) un-unbundled exchanges and (b) the awkwardness involved in changing your phone number (which still applies, apparently, despite 18 months of ComReg requests to eircom and a ComReg report last Sept that said it was sorted :rolleyes:

In short, the only reasons not to move to Smart are issues over which Smart have no control.......pro-competition Government my arse! :mad:

Sad Professor · 11-03-2007 11:32pm

I'm seriously considering switching to Smart. I'm with ntl/upc at the moment and to be fair I haven't had many problems with their broadband (tv is another matter) in ages but it does appear that they are interfering with p2p traffic lately. Smart would work out faster and cheaper, not to mention no cap. I'm not sure though, part of me is just sick of ntl and other part wants to give UPC a chance to get their act together. And changing the land line number is a lot of hassle.

I notice Smart also offer an upgrade to 6Mb, is this available everywhere? Is the upstream also faster? Also I've never had broadband on the line (ntl uses the tv cables) does this effect the installation? Does the box downstairs have to be changed?

I'll probably give them a ring during the week.

dub45 · 12-03-2007 12:02am

Sad Professor wrote:

I'm seriously considering switching to Smart. I'm with ntl/upc at the moment and to be fair I haven't had many problems with their broadband (tv is another matter) in ages but it does appear that they are interfering with p2p traffic lately. Smart would work out faster and cheaper, not to mention no cap. I'm not sure though, part of me is just sick of ntl and other part wants to give UPC a chance to get their act together. And changing the land line number is a lot of hassle.

I notice Smart also offer an upgrade to 6Mb, is this available everywhere? Is the upstream also faster? Also I've never had broadband on the line (ntl uses the tv cables) does this effect the installation? Does the box downstairs have to be changed?

I'll probably give them a ring during the week.

The fact that you currently do not have dsl on the line should speed up installation if you decide to go for it. The 6Mb would depend on your line quality best to go for the basic product first establish your line quality and then upgrade if your line can take it.

digitaldr · 12-03-2007 7:48pm

Personally I'll be sticking with smart and SKY+. One of the main things that put me off NTL (apart form their dire customer service) was the lack of a PVR - but I now I hear they're planning to offer one - wonder will it be as good as Sky's??

nava · 12-03-2007 9:43pm

Sad Professor wrote:

I'm seriously considering switching to Smart. I'm with ntl/upc at the moment and to be fair I haven't had many problems with their broadband (tv is another matter) in ages but it does appear that they are interfering with p2p traffic lately. Smart would work out faster and cheaper, not to mention no cap. I'm not sure though, part of me is just sick of ntl and other part wants to give UPC a chance to get their act together. And changing the land line number is a lot of hassle.

I notice Smart also offer an upgrade to 6Mb, is this available everywhere? Is the upstream also faster? Also I've never had broadband on the line (ntl uses the tv cables) does this effect the installation? Does the box downstairs have to be changed?

I'll probably give them a ring during the week.

Hi

Exactly the same for me, with NTL/UPC for over 4 years and only had about 4 outages, the only problem is the support over the last 6 months that takes ages to get someone and they never reasly help you.

Is there not an option to get only broadband with Smart without getting a phone line and needing to change the number.

Regards

christophicus · 12-03-2007 9:50pm

^^^ no there is no such option with smart. The phoneline is how you get the BB connection with smart.

digitaldr · 12-03-2007 10:29pm

I have to say changing number was not as big a deal as I thought it would be.

Couch Potato · 13-03-2007 9:42am

What happens when the Line Rental goes up ?

As Smart are breaking this out from the BB price - surely the overall price will go up as well ? - this will show that Eircom have increased the overall price and not Smart ??

Ardent · 13-03-2007 1:23pm

XJR wrote:

I'm with Smart now for sometime (phone and BB) and have absolutley no complaint only compliments - perfect uninterrupted service with no download / upload caps and a good line speed and all for what's probably the best value around.

As another happy Smart broadband customer, I echo the above sentiment.

nava · 14-03-2007 11:10pm

Hi

does anyone know what the reason is for changing the phone number? They will get lots more customers if users could keep their own number.

Regards

Sir Oxman · 14-03-2007 11:13pm

nava wrote:

Hi

does anyone know what the reason is for changing the phone number? They will get lots more customers if users could keep their own number.

Regards

eirscum. probably. more than likely. yes, eirscum

Sir Oxman · 14-03-2007 11:14pm

XJR wrote:

I'm with Smart now for sometime (phone and BB) and have absolutley no complaint only compliments - perfect uninterrupted service with no download / upload caps and a good line speed and all for what's probably the best value around.

They are still taking on BB customers so long as you are willing to move their phone to smart aswell - I thoroughly reccomend them, if for no other reason than they are not eircom !

100% agree.
recent threat of a rent increase for me from landlord, may be moving and will only move to a Smart enabled area. THAT'S how good my experience is with them.

Sir Oxman · 14-03-2007 11:15pm

Couch Potato wrote:

What happens when the Line Rental goes up ?

As Smart are breaking this out from the BB price - surely the overall price will go up as well ? - this will show that Eircom have increased the overall price and not Smart ??

I would pay a bit more not that I want to, but I would without complaint.

Couch Potato · 15-03-2007 10:03am

I called Smart yesterday and apparently the Blanchardstown exchange will be ready next month.

I assume Smart are currently passing on the Line Rental charge from Eircom to their customers ?

In the case of LLU - Smart will have agreed a wholesale price for the customer line with Eircom - anybody any idea how much this is ? - Surely this would be cheaper than 24.18 euro ? Therefore will the price go down ?

dub45 · 15-03-2007 11:28am

Couch Potato wrote:

I called Smart yesterday and apparently the Blanchardstown exchange will be ready next month.

I assume Smart are currently passing on the Line Rental charge from Eircom to their customers ?
In the case of LLU - Smart will have agreed a wholesale price for the customer line with Eircom - anybody any idea how much this is ? - Surely this would be cheaper than 24.18 euro ? Therefore will the price go down ?

What planet are you living on exactly? Surely you are aware of the financial problems that Smart have had in the past and the ongoing costs that any business will have? How do you expect Smart to finance itself particularly given the excellent prices/products they already offer their customers?

RangeR · 15-03-2007 12:04pm

Couch Potato wrote:

I called Smart yesterday and apparently the Blanchardstown exchange will be ready next month.

I assume Smart are currently passing on the Line Rental charge from Eircom to their customers ?

In the case of LLU - Smart will have agreed a wholesale price for the customer line with Eircom - anybody any idea how much this is ? - Surely this would be cheaper than 24.18 euro ? Therefore will the price go down ?

I agree with Dub. I would have no problem paying a bit more than Smart are currently charging. I think they are charging around €15 [Ex Line Rental] per month for 4Mb. If you want to go 6Mb, just add on an extra fiver. What company would give you that speed for that price. That's about €20 for a 6Mb service. OMFG WOW!!!!!

Also from what I can see, they don't have a download cap either. They have an acceptable usage policy but I have only heard of one or two people who have been pulled up on it. I think they were getting close to the Terrabyte downloads at that stage anyway.

The ONLY reason I'm not with Smart at the moment is that they are not in my area. In a heartbeat I say. In a heartbeat.

*EDIT* the price

Liam Byrne · 15-03-2007 12:29pm

nava wrote:

does anyone know what the reason is for changing the phone number ?

Because eircom control the lines, and eircom have repeatedly ignored ComReg requests for the past 18 months or so that they get this sorted out - it's a bit like switching mobile provider - once upon a time you had to change number, but now, because of progressive, pro-consumer thinking, you don't.

They [Smart] will get lots more customers if users could keep their own number.

Particularly business customers, I'd suspect, since headed paper, signage, vans, golden pages/phone book, website, etc, etc would all need to be updated.

This is something which, given the price and service on offer from Smart, eircom are probably all too aware of.....which could, I suspect :rolleyes: , be a factor in the delaying tactics.

The main problem seems to be that ComReg isn't equipped with any clout to actually do anything about it.

The second problem is that eircom are more interested in keeping their shareholders happy than their customers; this will work for them, short-term, but longer-term better price/service and less bollixing people around would be a better option, as ripped off/pissed off customers go elsewhere.

Smart Telecom excluding line rental

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