Eircom DSL rollout. Delayed and no longer a priority.

jay93

I don't think a rep will reply here anymore :rolleyes:
Eircom probably have no clue themselves as to the roll out of DSL to these exchanges in Ireland.

This company is dead in the water at this point how they went so far down the crapper is beyond me!

regress

jay93 wrote: »

I don't think a rep will reply here anymore :rolleyes:
Eircom probably have no clue themselves as to the roll out of DSL to these exchanges in Ireland.
!

I realise that. Purpose of keeping this thread active is to highlight Eircoms refusal to answer any queries on broadband rollout. I would not accept though that they don't know. More likely that they are under orders not to say anything. Which imo makes a mockery of this forum.

Sponge Bob

My problem is that eircom are in some next generation talkshop jobbie with Rabbitte where they want state money to underpin NG rollouts.

However as the 2007 DSL Rollout Programme was announced 4 years and 11 months ago and is STILL NOT COMPLETE and has NO COMPLETION DATE the issue of whether any state money should be made available to a company which has completely failed to HONOUR ITS PROMISES is a very live one.

It is not in the least unreasonable to ask for a completion date for the 2007 DSL Programme. eircom, despite all the their recent bond default, spent more money on GAA Sponsorship in 2011 alone than it would cost them to finish this programme off and will spend the same again in 2012.

regress

Maybe Mr Rabbitte should be made aware of the issue. The fact that Eircom has broken previous promises and abandoned broadband rollout should be taken into consideration before any more NGB money is paid over.

eircom: Tony

regress wrote: »

Maybe Mr Rabbitte should be made aware of the issue. The fact that Eircom has broken previous promises and abandoned broadband rollout should be taken into consideration before any more NGB money is paid over.

Hi regress
I understand your position on this but I nor either of the reps here on boards are in any position to retract official statements made by eircom. This retraction would have to come from correct channels; in which case we would post such a statement.
Our role on Boards.ie is to provide answers to queries raised here and where information is not available, we will chase internal sources to provide this for you.
In regards to this DSL deployment we have been advised that The Deployment Plan is subject to change as individual projects may be delayed / brought forward due to technical considerations. (The Rollout of NGB and Fibre, as demand for faster services increases, along with other infrastructure and technological changes since 2007 for example). I, Mark and Ant have made numerous enquiries on this issue and We have not received any notification that plans to continue deployment to provide DSL have been discarded. We have posted this response earlier on this thread.
To this time this has to be our final say on this issue. Due to the interest in this subject We have asked to be kept updated on this and will post as soon as we have any further issue.
Tony

Sponge Bob

regress wrote: »

Maybe Mr Rabbitte should be made aware of the issue. The fact that Eircom has broken previous promises and abandoned broadband rollout should be taken into consideration before any more NGB money is paid over.

Indeed he should be and to my knowledge he is already aware of the broken promises.

The genuine NGB project ( the one where VDSL and some fibr eto thr premises is being rolled out) will be rolled out to the exxact same exchanges that already have ADSL2.

Yet many areas promised a basic service...1st generation DSL in the main...back in 2007 are still left with nothing but excuses.

I appreciate the difficulties this causes customer centric staff on the front line such as Tony but we are all taxpayers here and an effort is being made to get our money to pay for something ...by a company with a history of non delivery.

Sure there will be enough spare gear left over to do the lot of them once the first tranche of VDSL rolls out in the cities later this year.

regress

Tony

I understand that you are uncomfortable with being unable to respond and am grateful at least  that you did not try to answer by talking about the upgrading of already enabled Exchanges. You are also excellent in responding to and addressing issues when Eircom allows you to. 

However you are on here as a representative of Eircom and this is an Eircom forum and as such your failure to address any of the issues cannot be left unanswered 


You say you are unable to retract any official statement made by Eircom (even when such  a statement is untrue). That retractions would have to come from "official" channels. But is this forum not an official channel. And does not the refusal of Eircom to retract lies not undermine it's credibility. Also the main lie that you were being asked to retract was a statement by another Eircom rep on this forum. I.e. The ludicrous claim that fixed line broadband was already available throughout the major cities.

You say that you have received no confirmation that the DSL broadband rollout  has been abandoned but this means of course that you have received no confirmation that it has not been abandoned. To state that it has not but that Eircom has no idea when or if any other Exchange will ever be enabled is stretching credulity. 

My opinion is that it is the role of paid Eircom reps to answer for the broken promises of their employer and for that reason your non answer is unacceptable. 

regress

And maybe we have hit a sore spot with SpongeBobs revelation that Eircom are currently looking for more government money.

Not one red cent more till Eircom respond to queries on broken promises and why the rollout program was abandoned.

regress

Realise that like Ray Burke you want to draw a line in the sand and move on but will keep this thread active until Eircom answers the following questions

1. When will the 15 Exchanges listed above that Eircom promised to enable by 2009 be enabled for basic broadband?

2 When will basic 1mb broadband be rolled out to the five major urban areas as promised under the "take all orders" program?

Confirmation that Eircom has abandoned any plans to enable the other 200 Exchanges that are not broadband enabled.

regress

Still waiting for a response to this query

regress wrote: »

Broken Promise No 1

In 2007 Eircom announced a programme to reprogram certain named exchanges and carry
out works to ensure that the exchanges on this list could deliver 1MB DSL broadband. 
Eircom committed to completing this work by the end of 2009.

Eircom set up a site www. broadbandatoz.ie to announce when these exchanges were enabled.

According to Spongebob Eircom promised to enable the following Exchanges





Ballyforan
Carrigallen
Cloonee
Kilrickle
St. Johnston
Annyalla

Ballydesmond
Knocknagree
Knockraha
Ballydesmon
Ballyporeen

Bruree

Oldtown
Coon

Calverstown


Broken Promise No 2

http://www.irishpressreleases.ie/printer-page.php?p=1440

Quote:
16 Jan 2007 eircom today announced that with immediate effect the Company is taking all
broadband orders placed within the five main urban areas of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway. Customers whose telephone lines have previously failed to qualify for broadband are encouraged to contact eircom to have their lines re-tested.

Five years after this promise was made Eircom has abandoned plans to rollout 1MB broadband throughout the five named cities and is refusing the honour the "take all orders" promise. 

Of course their are an additional 200+ Exchanges in addition to the above with nothing but let's address those two groups first. 

regress

Given the misconceptions that seen to be out there about the availability of fixed line broadband in the major urban areas, I think it is important to highlight that the enabling of Exchanges ib the major urban areas has been abandoned by Eircom. And that Eircom is refusing to give any explanation or justification for this. I am also astounded that Eircom is refusing to retract the false claim by Ant that fixed line broadband is available in all areas in the major cities. Will continue to bump thread to highlight this.

Sponge Bob

That is a false claim. These exchanges are located in Dublin, the "Internet Capital" of the Universe or whatever.......and have no ADSL Not the County, the City

BALDOYLE BDL
BALGADDY BGD
CLONSKEAGH CKH
PEAMOUNT LANE PML

eircom: Tony

regress wrote: »

Given the misconceptions that seen to be out there about the availability of fixed line broadband in the major urban areas, I think it is important to highlight that the enabling of Exchanges ib the major urban areas has been abandoned by Eircom. And that Eircom is refusing to give any explanation or justification for this. I am also astounded that Eircom is refusing to retract the false claim by Ant that fixed line broadband is available in all areas in the major cities. Will continue to bump thread to highlight this.

Hi regress
please read Ant's post again, the exact text says Regarding Standard DSL availability in cities nation-wide, Yes DSL is available in all the major urban centres in The Republic of Ireland, Dublin , Drogheda, Dundalk, Cork, Limerick Galway, Sligo Waterford , Wexford and Kilkenny. and not in all areas in the major cities.
You may consider this an issue of semantics, however Ant's statement is technically correct and as such a retraction to this statement is not appropriate.

In regards to my previous post on DSL deployment, we have been advised that The Deployment Plan is subject to change as individual projects may be delayed / brought forward due to technical considerations. (The Rollout of NGB and Fibre, as demand for faster services increases, along with other infrastructure and technological changes since 2007 for example). I, Mark and Ant have made numerous enquiries on this issue and We have received no notification that plans to continue deployment to provide DSL have been discarded. We have posted this response earlier on this thread.

To this time this has to be our final say on this issue. Due to the interest in this subject We have asked to be kept updated on this and will certainly make any new information available.
Tony

regress

regress wrote: »

- Do Eircom have any plans to enable any more Exchanges in the cities?
.

regress wrote: »

Does Eircom have any plans to rollout DSL availability in the major cities?

Sponge Bob wrote: »

. The status of the 2007 "Take All Orders" program in 2012. Is it abandoned in Dublin Cork Limerick Galway and Waterford which is where eircom gave that committment to all of their customers.

regress wrote: »

Broken Promise No 2. Those living in the 5 major cities will have basic 1MB broadband by 2009, either through ADSL or wimax. The "Take all orders" promise.

eircom: Ant wrote: »

Hi regress,

Apologies for delay. I've asked Technical Support for more information on your query. I'm looking into this and will advise further during the week.

t

eircom: Ant wrote: »

Hi regress,

My apologies for the delay, however I have the following information regarding your query..

Regarding Standard DSL availability in cities nation-wide, Yes DSL is available in all the major urban centres in The Republic of Ireland, Dublin , Drogheda, Dundalk, Cork, Limerick Galway, Sligo Waterford , Wexford and Kilkenny.

Tony, I would respectfully disagree. You also have to look at the context in relation to the query to whh ant was responding. The question was why Eircom had not rolled out fixed line broadband to all areas in the major cities as promised under "Take all orders". It was taken as given that some areas already have fixed line availability. Therefore a reply to the effect that some areas already have access would be pointless and nonsensical. The clear inference from Ants statement is that all areas in the major cities have fixed line broadband. Even if he does not say "in all areas"

However I will take your "clarification" that he he meant "only in some areas" because he didn't say "in all areas" as kind of a retraction

This of course though leaves the original query unanswered

Why did Eircom break its bromise and abandon the rollout of fixed line broadband to the major urban areas and Do Eircom have any plans to enable any more urban Exchanges in the future?

regress

eircom: Tony wrote: »

We have received no notification that plans to continue deployment to provide DSL have been discarded.

The plan announced by Eircom in 2007 was that fixed line would be rolled out to the five major urban areas by 2009. It is now 2012 so that plan was discarded. . Similarly the plan to enable the 15 Exchanges named by Spongebob. by 2009. We have to assume as the website has been sh
ut down that this plan has also been disgarded .

So are you now claiming that new plans to rollout DSL exist to replace the two plans above which were disgarded. And the these mythical secret new plans of which you can provide no information whatsoever and which have never been announced have not been discarded. That we are to take it on faith that they exist without any evidence or proof other than your word.

Sponge Bob

Not quite sure about that Regress. Here is the announcement you refer to.

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10008705.shtml

Jan 16, 2007

After a previously announced objective to improve broadband availability and take-up, Eircom today said it was taking all broadband orders placed within the five main urban areas of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway.

Eircom said customers whose telephone lines had previously failed to qualify for broadband should contact it to have their lines re-tested.

Rex Comb CEO, eircom, said:

"Today’s announcements demonstrate that we are serious about driving broadband in Ireland. As a result of the initiative to take all orders in the main urban areas and to extend the reach of Broadband in rural areas over 36,000 additional customers can now order broadband.

However Comb did not promise to DELIVER Broadband in the urban areas by DSL.

Shortly before that take all orders announcement.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1019/eircom-business.html

19 October 2006

Eircom will also use WiMax technology next year to overcome problems with broadband over some lines. WiMax, a wireless technology, will be used to supplement existing DSL services in the five major urban centres.

Eircom chief executive Rex Comb said these initiatives completed the 'commercial and
cost effective roll-out of broadband in Ireland'

Eircom has held its wireless licence for four years and the introduction of Wimax now is seen by the industry as an admission that too many lines were failing over traditional broadband delivery methods.

So what is the current status of the Take All Orders Program in the 5 main urban areas??

regress

Thanks Spongebob. Promise was that delivery in major urban areas would be by fixed line or Wimax. However Wimax has not reached some cities.


Very curious though about assurance by Tony that the "plans" to rollout DSL have not been discarded. Does anyone have any knowledge or information on these "plans" that have not been disgarded. Are they imagined or do they perhaps exist in an alternative reality.

regress

Sponge Bob wrote: »

So what is the current status of the Take All Orders Program in the 5 main urban areas??

As Eircom reps are refusing to say and it was due for completion by 2009 we will have to assume that it was abandoned a few years ago. I assume it can't be one if the DSL rollout plans that have not been abandoned as it includes Wimax

jay93

So they abandon the Wimax roll out aswell wow these guys are taking the p..s .

regress

Sponge Bob wrote: »

So what is the current status of the Take All Orders Program in the 5 main urban areas??

Bump

regress

Full page ads in Sunday newspapers but unfortunately it looks bad for those with no broadband as it looks increasingly likely that the roll out has been abandoned.

Eircom CEO says that Eircom will continue to keep existing customers connected to " a world class national telecommunications network" but pointedly makes no commitement to connecting anyone else to it.

Also commits to rolling out fibre but only to some of those that already have fixed line. Only commitment to those with no fixed line Broadband is a vague assurance that Eircom will "improve" it's 3G coverage.

Unsuprisingly Paul Donovan CEO makes no reference to his predessors now abandonded promise to roll out DSL in the major urban areas.

Sponge Bob

They are connected to it in those areas, it is just that they are on "world class" eircom dialup.

Out of the €300m a year earmarked for Network Investment will eircom finally finish the April 2007 upgrade program which is 5 years old now or will we take it that they are terminally unreliable and start lobbying UPC to roll out more of their FTTH product as they are doing in small and medium sized towns right now.

Please note, yet again, that I am not lobbying for the 200+ exchanges, mainly rural ones, that were never promised anything at all here.

But I see no reason why I should tell anyone to hang around waiting for a company that cannot complete a simple DSL provisioning program 5 years after they announced it.

regress

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Out of the €300m a year earmarked for Network Investment will eircom finally finish the April 2007 upgrade program which is 5 years old now
Please note, yet again, that I am not lobbying for the 200+ exchanges, mainly rural ones, that were never promised anything at all here.
.

Maybe Eircom spent the money on newspaper ads informing everyone about it's world class telecommunications infrastructure.