"Eircom" Mobile Broadband

taung

Eircom have entered the mobile broadband market today. Of course, they will be piggy-backing on their subsidiary company's (Meteor) HSPA mobile broadband network.

For private individuals Eircom will charge you €20 a month and you will get;

- HSPA mobile broadband speeds ("up to" 7.2 Mbps download).
- 10GB download quota.
- 5GB online storage space.
- Free access to Eircom's WiFi hotspots.
- Free internet access to Setanta Sports programmes.

Meteor are providing the same HSPA service for just €17 per month.

It's hard to see why anyone, especially in these recessionary times, would value the little "extras" that Eircom throw in at €3 per month. I guess they are hoping that their target customers will not be "aware" of Meteor's cheaper service offering.

ttm

- Free access to Eircom's WiFi hotspots.

That could be a plus for anyone living near a hotspot, but only if the 10GB limit was only for the HSPDA access and didn't include the Hotspot access as that probably costs eircom a lot less.

hurler007

- Free internet access to Setanta Sports programmes.

:rolleyes: Nice try eircom.

cgarvey

taung wrote: »

Meteor are providing the same HSPA service for just €17 per month.

Not quite when you look at the detail. Half the cap (which is big money in 3G/midband terms), no WiFi, and no Setanta. Same coverage/quality, obviously.

watty

An extra 5G for €3 is cheap when the real cost might over €50 a Gigabyte. "3" Charge €250 a gig over cap.

Though if you don't need mobility, any Mobile package is a bad idea. OTH they are all subsidized so in one sense a bargain

Davy

Meteor is a 30 days contract, where eircom is a 12 month contract, but the price of the modem is €29 with eircom, or free if never had broadband with them.

Also give 3 months Norton Internet Security if that makes a difference to someone.

ttm

watty wrote: »

An extra 5G for €3 is cheap when the real cost might over €50 a Gigabyte. "3" Charge €250 a gig over cap.

Though if you don't need mobility, any Mobile package is a bad idea. OTH they are all subsidized so in one sense a bargain

I can understand what you are saying when you say "they are all subsidized" but when voice calls have priority its more like "money for old rope" as its only whatever bandwith is left over that is available for mobile broadband. Yes its subsidized in that without the voice calls mobile broadband wouldn't exist but its a "cash cow" for the operators as they don't have to garantee anything and the only promise you get is a speed UP TO something that you're unlikely to ever achieve.

Has anyone worked out if the "Free access to Eircom's WiFi hotspots" really is free and not part of the cap? There is a good virtually unused Eircom Hotspot locally and 20euro a month to use that with no cap would be nice but unlikely

Random

Does the Setanta stuff only work when using the dongle or is it based on username/password?

Davy

Random wrote: »

Does the Setanta stuff only work when using the dongle or is it based on username/password?

Once your an eircom BB customer, its not specific to the mobile BB

poindexter

surely to God it has to be better than the coverage 3 have


does anyone have the link for the eircom site that lets you see where broadband is currently available and where they hope to install it next. thanks in advance

Random

Davy wrote: »

Once your an eircom BB customer, its not specific to the mobile BB

Right .. so for example if I wanted access to Setanta online for €20 / month and only used the Mobile BB occasionally ... I can still watch Setanta online using BT, Imagine, Perlico, O2 etc?

Davy

Random wrote: »

Right .. so for example if I wanted access to Setanta online for €20 / month and only used the Mobile BB occasionally ... I can still watch Setanta online using BT, Imagine, Perlico, O2 etc?

Em i cant imagine so. You dont need to login to a special area, you just go to http://setanta-video.eircom.net/eircom/channels/Live.aspx im not sure really how to checks, you would still be connected to the same server if Bt or eircom but how it tells the difference im not sure

Random

Bah... dam IP checks. There goes a potential customer in me then.

Davy

Random wrote: »

Bah... dam IP checks. There goes a potential customer in me then.

What happened when you clicked the link?

drunkmonkey

poindexter wrote: »

surely to God it has to be better than the coverage 3 have

How did you come to that conclusion, 3 have been offering 3G services since 05/06, eircom/meteor have a bit of catching up to do..

I bet all these press releases have nothing got to do with the launch of 3's National Broadband campaign this month...:rolleyes:

It's nothing but a PR machine trying to steal some thunder...

Random

Davy wrote: »

What happened when you clicked the link?

Always on for sport

Always on for Sports video content is only available for customers who have one of the following eircom Broadband packages: Broadband Time, Broadband Home Starter, Broadband Home Plus, Broadband Home professional.

If you would like to view exclusive content from Setanta Sports, then why not sign up to one of these Broadband packages? eircom Always on for Sports offers all the latest matches and sporting events as well as access to a wide range of adventure and motor sports.

This

ttm

drunkmonkey wrote: »

How did you come to that conclusion, 3 have been offering 3G services since 05/06, eircom/meteor have a bit of catching up to do..

I bet all these press releases have nothing got to do with the launch of 3's National Broadband campaign this month...:rolleyes:

It's nothing but a PR machine trying to steal some thunder...

Congrats on another clever plug for 3 but can we keep 3 out of this?

watty

poindexter wrote: »

surely to God it has to be better than the coverage 3 have


does anyone have the link for the eircom site that lets you see where broadband is currently available and where they hope to install it next. thanks in advance

Dublin City and bits of Cork City is 3G (map is on Meteor site)
The rest is EDGE (which 3 hasn't got).

I'd make an educated guess. They'll do rest of Cork City, Waterford City, Galway City, Limerick City.

Then the next phase with be the 10 or 20 next most populated areas. Assuming they don't run out of money. (which is likely)

Towns

Villages last, if at all.

Davy

Currently eircom customers living in Dublin, Cork city, Dundalk, Drogheda, Bray, Naas, Navan, Waterford and Newbridge can avail of eircom mobile broadband. It is planned that coverage will extend to 53% of the population by December 2009.

Sponge Bob

watty wrote: »

Dublin City and bits of Cork City is 3G (map is on Meteor site)
The rest is EDGE (which 3 hasn't got).

I'd make an educated guess. They'll do rest of Cork City, Waterford City, Galway City, Limerick City.

Spot On

Then the next phase with be the 10 or 20 next most populated areas. Assuming they don't run out of money. (which is likely)

Spot on

Towns

No, Main roads between those places , the Meteor network is very thin and they pay too much for their internal roaming .

Towns

Some

Villages last, if at all.

Ho Ho Ho , maybe a few co los on their Tetra masts .

drunkmonkey

ttm wrote: »

Congrats on another clever plug for 3 but can we keep 3 out of this?

it's a not a clever plug it's stating the obvious, why else would eircom launch mobile broadband this week when they already launched mobile broadband through meteor last year. It's PR at it's finest.
It makes no sense for a company to compete against itself. I think I know what eircom could be trying to do but the idea is so far fetched i'll keep it to myself...

dmn

Davy wrote: »

Meteor is a 30 days contract, where eircom is a 12 month contract, but the price of the modem is €29 with eircom, or free if never had broadband with them.

Also give 3 months Norton Internet Security if that makes a difference to someone.

meteor is a 12 months contract also. not 30 days

Davy

dmn wrote: »

meteor is a 12 months contract also. not 30 days

They have both options, eircom is just 12 month contract.

poindexter

drunkmonkey wrote: »

How did you come to that conclusion

mainly came to it as i have had 3 mobile broadband for the last year and the connection is shocking. if i get over 20kb per second am doing well.

Walkman

poindexter wrote: »

mainly came to it as i have had 3 mobile broadband for the last year and the connection is shocking. if i get over 20kb per second am doing well.

Speed and coverage are not always connected. Eircom mobile will not have greater coverage than 3

jor el

poindexter wrote: »

mainly came to it as i have had 3 mobile broadband for the last year and the connection is shocking. if i get over 20kb per second am doing well.

Meteor's coverage is shockingly bad, considering they're launched this thing in national media, and are advertising the sh*t out of it. eircom will have exactly the same crap coverage. What speed you'll get is a different thing though, and I'd imagine it must be quite good at the minute due to lack of customers.

watty

Sponge Bob wrote: »

-- snipage--

No, Main roads between those places , the Meteor network is very thin and they pay too much for their internal roaming .

-- snipage--

I thought of mentioning that. But it helps few people sitting in Offices or at Home.

I'd get car sick if I browsed the Internet while a passenger. I don't need it while driving. I've a good car radio rather than Internet Radio via 3G which isn't sensible.

(Nokia upgraded the Nokia Maps, all of Europe preloaded is only 1.6G and Ireland + UK is about 300M. PC application and save Maps on micro SD card.)

poindexter

Walkman wrote: »

Speed and coverage are not always connected. Eircom mobile will not have greater coverage than 3

i'm just saying that how **** the speed is with 3 just now, i would find it hard to believe that any other service could be nearly as bad

Amalgam

I've found Meteor to be more consistent than 3, I have the (misfortune) good luck of using both service providers with USB dongles. I'm in a low to no coverage area. I would guess Eircom would roll out a similar service to Meteor. Dublin based.

I remember Watty saying that Meteor just aren't as overburdened as 3 yet.. so, it might all come down to the same tripe service, eventually.

creamteam

taung wrote: »

Eircom have entered the mobile broadband market today. Of course, they will be piggy-backing on their subsidiary company's (Meteor) HSPA mobile broadband network.

For private individuals Eircom will charge you €20 a month and you will get;

- HSPA mobile broadband speeds ("up to" 7.2 Mbps download).
- 10GB download quota.
- 5GB online storage space.
- Free access to Eircom's WiFi hotspots.
- Free internet access to Setanta Sports programmes.

Meteor are providing the same HSPA service for just €17 per month.

It's hard to see why anyone, especially in these recessionary times, would value the little "extras" that Eircom throw in at €3 per month. I guess they are hoping that their target customers will not be "aware" of Meteor's cheaper service offering.

meteor have a 5 gb download quota!!!!!!!!!!!

drunkmonkey

jor el wrote: »

What speed you'll get is a different thing though, and I'd imagine it must be quite good at the minute due to lack of customers.

wouldn't the speed the be the exact same, same company, same mast, same modem, only thing different is the price plans..
The only way eircom could be better is if they throttle the usage of the meteor broadband users to suit the eircom users...

jor el

drunkmonkey wrote: »

wouldn't the speed the be the exact same, same company, same mast, same modem, only thing different is the price plans..
The only way eircom could be better is if they throttle the usage of the meteor broadband users to suit the eircom users...

My post was in relation to what speed you may get on Meteor's network (be it from eircom or Meteor), given that they have poor coverage and probably relatively few customers, so far. I wasn't comparing eircom to Meteor, as they should be the same, unless one gets prioritised over the other.

drunkmonkey

jor el wrote: »

relatively few customers,

have they 3 million between the 2 of them?

lol, i'm off to check the share price:D

creamteam

hot spot will not effect your 10 gb quota as you are going through a different access point, eircom mobile is now 3g on over 400 masts around the country next is edge then gprs . the deal is good especially if you can access the hotspot. in all it would be on the meteor network but just branded as a different name. speeds will depend on the area but dublin , cork and parts of the west will be good and the kicker is no line rental.

Amalgam

Are there any limits, data or otherwise, on hotspot access?

drunkmonkey

creamteam wrote: »

eircom mobile is now 3g on over 400 masts around the country

is that how many it takes to cover dublin and cork, how many would be needed countrywide?