Getting a line activated

Vicxas

Hi all,

We moved into a house about 3 weeks ago where the previous owners has left their line active.

I called sky and got my TV set up no bother. But when it comes to the broadband we've hit a snag.

They need my telephone number and UAN number. As I cancelled the line with eircom (as it wasn't in our name) we now no longer have a telephone line active. I know they can search for the house address but they can't seem to find it on the system so they've sent away to the UK to get them to have a look.

My question is can I just call eircom and get them to give me a telephone number and UAN number. Or am I stuck waiting for Sky to pull my address from a hat?

swoofer

the way i read it is you can switch your line to other providers but other providers cannot provide a new line. Eircom will have to give you a new number and then you switch to sky.

gbc

Vicxas

I tried through Eircom but they want to sign me up to a 12 month contract for the line.

dub45

AFAIK there were new arrangemenst introduced some time ago where all providers should be able to accept an order to install a line for you. Some stafff do not appear to be aware of this.

As part of that agreement it became standard that if you ordered through Eircom you were stuck in a 12 month contract.

So if you want to go with Sky you have to order you line through Sky.

swoofer

yeah just checked the t&c cheapest is 25 per month including line rental. I am afraid you are stuck with eircom. You can have broadband only from sky I believe.

by the way you could have taken over the existing line but eircom would still say 12 months.

swoofer

in fact that would make a bit of sense, ie order with sky

themacdaddy

Vicxas wrote: »

I tried through Eircom but they want to sign me up to a 12 month contract for the line.

or pay €120 I believe.

Had the same issue recently. Was told I would have to sign with them for 12 months or pay €120.

Vicxas

GBCULLEN wrote: »

in fact that would make a bit of sense, ie order with sky

I tried to order with Sky but they cannot find my address in their address finder so they cant set up the Broadband.

So my problem now is. Who do I go with:

Vodafone: Fixed line and getting mixed feedback about them

Smart Metro: Meant to be fantastic but if there is any bad weather it dies.

Any suggestions?

swoofer

can you get the new fibre where you are? go with eircom and then dump them after a year. i am with VF and no problems.

but waiting for fibre.

where are you roughly

Vicxas

GBCULLEN wrote: »

can you get the new fibre where you are? go with eircom and then dump them after a year. i am with VF and no problems.

but waiting for fibre.

where are you roughly

We're in navan. But we're in one of the 3 estates in the entire town that doesn't have UPC. it's heart breaking.

dub45

It seems strange that Sky cannot sort you out - you could try ringing Comreg and asking them about the situation.

Mr Simpson

dub45 wrote: »

It seems strange that Sky cannot sort you out - you could try ringing Comreg and asking them about the situation.

Its a problem with the address finder and how the address is set up in the database. Its escalated and the team dedicated to it go to BT Ireland to get it sorted

Harry Deerpark

Vicxas wrote: »

We're in navan. But we're in one of the 3 estates in the entire town that doesn't have UPC. it's heart breaking.

How come your estate doesn't have UPC?

starviewadams

Because not every estate is serviced by UPC,either because it's not worth it financially for UPC to install lines in the estate,or an annoying resident refused to let them pass cables on their property.

Harry Deerpark

starviewadams wrote: »

Because not every estate is serviced by UPC,either because it's not worth it financially for UPC to install lines in the estate,or an annoying resident refused to let them pass cables on their property.

I'm aware of all that. I was asking her/him, not you.

Like you said, though, if his/her estate wants UPC broadband, they can simply ask UPC for it because it's only a matter of attaching cables from roof to roof.

Patrick2010

GBCULLEN wrote: »

the way i read it is you can switch your line to other providers but other providers cannot provide a new line. Eircom will have to give you a new number and then you switch to sky.

gbc

Completely wrong, any operator can activate or install a line for you.They will have to order it through Eircom but you don't need to have any contact with Eircom.
The whole purpose of opening up the telecom market years ago was to introduce competition. To the OP if Sky can't activate a line for you go to Comreg immediately.

swoofer

thats good news, when the line is faulty do you know who fixes the fault, is it A eircom or B the provider??

Vicxas

It's not a case of sky not wanting to activate the line. When they search for my address it doesn't come up on their system.

They submitted this form to the UK 2 weeks ago but it's far too long to wait.

And when the developers of the estates were building these ones they didn't put any fibre cable into the ground.

10belowzero

Eircom will repair fault in the network up the master socket in customer's premises / home .

Patrick2010

GBCULLEN wrote: »

thats good news, when the line is faulty do you know who fixes the fault, is it A eircom or B the provider??

The provider will log a fault with Eircom on the customers behalf so it will be an Eircom technician who does the repair.

Patrick2010

Vicxas wrote: »

It's not a case of sky not wanting to activate the line. When they search for my address it doesn't come up on their system.

They submitted this form to the UK 2 weeks ago but it's far too long to wait.

And when the developers of the estates were building these ones they didn't put any fibre cable into the ground.

Then they can put in a request to Eircom who have to inform them if there is a line there that can be reactivated. Sky (or any other operator) don't have a database of address's, they have to through Eircom.

Mr Simpson

Patrick2010 wrote: »

Then they can put in a request to Eircom who have to inform them if there is a line there that can be reactivated. Sky (or any other operator) don't have a database of address's, they have to through Eircom.

Not true, Sky have a database of inactive eircom lines. The problem the op is having is that their address is either missing or is incorrect in the database

Patrick2010

MarkMc wrote: »

Not true, Sky have a database of inactive eircom lines. The problem the op is having is that their address is either missing or is incorrect in the database

Ok, I stand corrected, any operator I worked with had to go through Eircom. In that case then Sky should still be able to go to Eircom and if they can't help OP should go to Comreg..

Mr Simpson

Patrick2010 wrote: »

Ok, I stand corrected, any operator I worked with had to go through Eircom. In that case then Sky should still be able to go to Eircom and if they can't help OP should go to Comreg..

The process as it stands is:

Customer calls sky, has inactive line

Sky search by address, if its found, a line check can be done

If not, a request is sent to the escalations team, who search further, if they can't find it, a request is sent to BT Ireland for the inactive line address.

Patrick2010

Ok, but ultimately it will end up with Eircom as they have a record of every address that has ever had a phone line installed.

numorouno

Patrick2010 wrote: »

Completely wrong, any operator can activate or install a line for you.They will have to order it through Eircom but you don't need to have any contact with Eircom.
The whole purpose of opening up the telecom market years ago was to introduce competition. To the OP if Sky can't activate a line for you go to Comreg immediately.

is this true?
i have never had a line connected to my house which is a new build. i contacted sky and they said you need to have had a line in the house before or they cannot install broadband.

i rang eircom and they said they are the only people that can install a line and then i have to sign up for a year with their package which i dont really want to. apparently the cost of installing a line is about €121 but its waived as a special offer. i enquired about paying this and going with another provider but they said thats not possible.

is it fair to say that because i have never had a line in this house that i would have to endure a year with Eircom prices before I could switch or am I missing something?

10belowzero

You can go to the service provider of your choice,who have access to eircom's service provision + fault handing + appt slot's platform's.
They take your detail's and issue a service order to provide service at your address.If there is a phone line in your home with a socket/ntu fitted and you plug in a phone and it has a dial tone(called soft dial tone),they can provide service there and then (called electronic enablement).
If this fail's , a failed e/e order is issued and is escalated thru the eircom service delivery process ,giving your detail's , appt time etc to an eircom tech who is given the job to go out and provide the service at your address.
A failed e/e is basically the same as a line fault (which it is ) ,only that it stay's under the remit of service provision until a proven cable path + normal service is provided .Any service issue's with the line for 2 week's after provision are dealt with under service provision , after that all line issue's are dealt with under the fault handling process.
There is no great mystery here , these are everyday request's that any customer service rep with any experience should be able to sort , no matter what company you go to , Hth

dub45

This issue has been raised before here in one form or another and it seemed that the isp involved (I remember Magnet being involved in one case) did not know the proper procedure.

As I understand it the arrangements put in place relatively recently mean that the isp of your choice (in this case Sky obviously) should be able to order a new line on your behalf from Eircom. If Sky are not aware of this then maybe you will need to contact Comreg as mentioned previously in the thread.

Mr Simpson

Sky aren't ordering lines, yet. This is because the broadband and talk has not fully launched, it is only in soft launch mode at the moment. They will be ordering new line installations in the future.

numorouno

MarkMc wrote: »

Sky aren't ordering lines, yet. This is because the broadband and talk has not fully launched, it is only in soft launch mode at the moment. They will be ordering new line installations in the future.

a shot in the dark but I don't suppose anyone has a time frame for when they might be ordering lines