UPC launches new Basics Collection to rival Eircom offering

bob11

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/business/upc-launches-new-tv-and-broadband-package-to-rival-eircom-610351.html

UPC announced today it will be launching a new budget range of digital TV, broadband and phone services in Ireland.

On the same day as eircom announced its entry into the television market, UPC launched its new triple and dual play 'Basics Collection'.

UPC’s Basics 3-Play Pack has over 50 digital TV channels, including the BBC and ITV channels, Sky One, Sky News and Channel 4, with unlimited 50Mb broadband and home phone for just €60 per month.

Dual play customers also have new products with a 50Mb broadband and phone with unlimited downloads being introduced for €30 per month, and the introduction of a new TV and phone service for €36.

Mark Coan, sales & marketing vice-president of UPC Ireland said: "UPC is the market leader, we’re constantly setting new standards and today is no exception.

"The launch of our Basics Collection maintains our position as the value leader in the Irish marketplace and extends our product range to consumers we didn’t reach before."

zg3409

Details here:
http://www.upc.ie/pdf/UPCBasicsRangeLaunch.pdf

zg3409

Basic TV, Phone off-peak to landlines and and 50Mb Broadband €53 Download limit/€60 Unlimited

No TV, Phone off-peak to landlines and and 50Mb Broadband €23 Download limit/€30 Unlimited

Basic TV, Phone off-peak to landlines and No Broadband €36

Notes:
Basic TV includes their DVR recording box and basic channels.

Calls included are unlimited local and national calls off-peak 7pm-7am and weekend and 400 minutes to international landlines

All offers subject to 12 month contract.

zg3409

It is available to existing customers. I just got the 30 Euro package, for 27 Euro! subject to 1 year contract

Before
100/110Mb unlimited with phone = 47 Euro
After
50Mb unlimited with phone = 27 Euro (annual saving 240 Euro)

Sucess. Competition is good.

paulbok

Wish they'd do a package for tv & broadband, with no phone. I'd say I've made 10 calls on the bloody thing in the 5 years I'm with UPC (not counting several to their customer service)

zg3409

paulbok wrote: »

Wish they'd do a package for tv & broadband, with no phone. I'd say I've made 10 calls on the bloody thing in the 5 years I'm with UPC (not counting several to their customer service)

I think they make a profit on the phone calls, so giving you basic phone costs them nothing and is likely to make them money from people calling mobiles etc. The broadband modem comes with phone connection anyway so no real hardware costs to them. I have never even connected a phone.

channelsurfer2

is there a tv only basic package?

Arciphel

zg3409 wrote: »

It is available to existing customers. I just got the 30 Euro package, for 27 Euro! subject to 1 year contract

Before
100/110Mb unlimited with phone = 47 Euro
After
50Mb unlimited with phone = 27 Euro (annual saving 240 Euro)

Sucess. Competition is good.

Hey ZG, what number did you ring regarding this offer? I called UPC about this and the salesperson told me there was no such offer and fobbed me off.

zg3409

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

is there a tv only basic package?

There is no new TV only package, just the existing ones:
http://www.upc.ie/television/
http://www.upc.ie/television/DigitalValue/
for €28.50 a month.

which seems to be the non HD recording box.

In the past they had available packages not shown on the website such as analogue only, and digital value non recording (grey box). You could not order them through the site but you could over the phone. They are always open to a haggle if you can't afford what you are currently paying.

sKeith

zg3409 wrote: »

and is likely to make them money from people calling mobiles etc.

from my experience, mobiles are included in their minutes package.
low call , call save and other 1850 style numbers run up the bill.

zg3409

Arciphel wrote: »

Hey ZG, what number did you ring regarding this offer? I called UPC about this and the salesperson told me there was no such offer and fobbed me off.

1908 , press 3 for sales, transferred 3 times, put on hold, put on hold again, eventually offered less than the price shown!, for no reason. I think I was on to customer loyalty eventually but at one stage I was on to technical support!

I suggest ask for customer loyalty, at least one person did find an offer, kinda like supposed to be available!

Arciphel

Cheers, just got it sorted there. The guy I was talking to knew all about it and couldn't have been nicer. Got it for €27 a month as well, I need a new modem as I have the old 30Mb one at the moment so they are couriering new one out to me tomorrow, and most importantly no one-off fee for the new modem - score!

Fresh Pots

channelsurfer2

theres a lot of channels in the upc pack not in the eircom pack. What a pity though that UPC couldnt have bothered to offer this until Eircom came along. Sky will have to react and offer something next.

Arciphel

The sales guy from UPC told me that they have been briefed on this package for about three months, and were just waiting for eircom to announce their offering. So thanks eircom!

Capt'n Midnight

You can save another €7 if 30GB a month is enough.

Limited usage bundles also available UPC -€7 30GB
http://www.upc.ie/pdf/UPCBasicsRangeLaunch.pdf

whiteshorts

UPC, what a shower of *******!
Rang to see what deal they had for for BBand & phone, only currently have BBand with them.
Girl said the minimum speed was 120mb and bundle price was xyz.
Asked was there any other offers or one with a lower BBand speed
and was told No, that was the minimum available.

Mentioned the "new offer" and was told "oh it's not available yet".
Told them I was looking at a lower speed of 50mb and why didn't she mention it to me at the time?
"It's not available until the 1st November!"
€30 against €45 for a speed I don't need.

Arciphel

Its actually only €27, sorry for rubbing salt in the wound. It seems like only the people in the loyalty team know about this offer, I would say they are trying to keep it quiet and only use it as a last resort when someone rings up to cancel. I am in the same boat as you, 30 Mbps suited me fine and 50 is even overkill, no way I was going for the 120 and paying the new equipment fee.

Only thing is, I got the Cisco EPC 3925 modem this morning and plugged it in, all the LEDs are lit up on the front but I can't connect to the internet and the phone isn't working. I left it plugged in, hopefully it just takes a while to get provisioned correctly.

marcus2000

I rang them a few minutes ago just out of interest to see if it was available in my area. I was told no such deal existed. I mentioned the link to their website, and the article in the Indo last week, and he told me it was probably an offer that was no longer available.

I rang back. Similar story, I asked the girl (this time) to refer it to her manager. She came back and said Oh yeah, we do have that new product range.

Surely UPC don't have such a vast array of products/services that their staff cant be kept updated???

I'm currently on a Vodafone home service and get speeds of 4mb, as they were my cheapest option. (On their Up to 24mb line)... This new cheap broadband (I just need BB) is perfect!!!

zg3409

marcus2000 wrote: »

I'm currently on a Vodafone home service and get speeds of 4mb, as they were my cheapest option. (On their Up to 24mb line)... This new cheap broadband (I just need BB) is perfect!!!

If switching providers be aware you may be in a contract with your current provider and even if out of contact you may need to give them a months notice, in writing . If you want to move the same landline number over you may also need to advise UPC.

UPC may also need time to supply you with the hardware and set it up and get everything turned on and numbers moved over. To avoid not paying for two systems at the same time you may risk being without a service for a few days. If you can afford it, have both overlap for a period.

UPC may have connection charges, equipment charges, including a phone handset (they charged me for a cordless phone, even though I said I did not want it), a minimum 1 year contract with 30 days notice etc.

fl4pj4ck

Rang them today, and despite asking to switch to the Basics package they insisted on me getting the 120mb package. I was persistent and my new modem should be on its way...

channelsurfer2

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

Rang them today, and despite asking to switch to the Basics package they insisted on me getting the 120mb package. I was persistent and my new modem should be on its way...

this basics pack is probably going to be like the corporate health insurance policies. They wont promote it unless you specifically ask for it.

Arciphel

Well, so far my experience has been not great, still going backwards and forwards with UPC on Twitter trying to get my new modem to work :-/ just like UPC to promise so much and then make a balls of it!

Arciphel

OK, credit where credit is due, tech support and the twitter team got me sorted out, seems there was a problem provisioning the modem but a reset at both ends fixed it up.

[URL="[URL=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3048267713][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/3048267713.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]

Only thing is since going from 30 to 50 mbps my packet loss has increased :mad:

[URL="[URL=http://www.pingtest.net][IMG]http://www.pingtest.net/result/88178089.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]

Edit - changed ping test server from Dublin to Galway, got a better result.
[URL="[URL=http://www.pingtest.net][IMG]http://www.pingtest.net/result/88178176.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]

Capt'n Midnight

Arciphel wrote: »

Well, so far my experience has been not great, still going backwards and forwards with UPC on Twitter trying to get my new modem to work :-/ just like UPC to promise so much and then make a balls of it!

:pac:

Arciphel

OK, this is a joke. Can't make a phone call, call dissolves into plinky plunky digital bleeps and bloops after 3mins. This is my current speed test result.

[URL="[URL=http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3052692920][IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/3052692920.png[/IMG][/URL]"][/url]

Absolute joke.

Capt'n Midnight

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

this basics pack is probably going to be like the corporate health insurance policies. They wont promote it unless you specifically ask for it.

If you are getting grief then head over to cancellation / loyalty dept blah blah eircom efibre rollout blah

Symbol rates
5120000 up
6952000 x 8 down



And the WiFI is connected at 144.4Mb/s , the old box didn't even have wifi




And you have to feel sorry for the poor bastards who are looking at this map
http://www.eircom.net/efibreinfo/map/

Tango One

Arciphel wrote: »

OK, this is a joke. Can't make a phone call, call dissolves into plinky plunky digital bleeps and bloops after 3mins. This is my current speed test result.



Absolute joke.

What are your result from the Dublin server or the upc speedtest. Is that a wireless test too?

_Whimsical_

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

this basics pack is probably going to be like the corporate health insurance policies. They wont promote it unless you specifically ask for it.

They can look forward to loosing potential customers to eircom then I imagine.

Sheldons Brain

What a pity though that UPC couldnt have bothered to offer this until Eircom came along.

I had Digital Value TV and added broadband+phone for this fee about 6 weeks ago.
This may have been influenced by Eircom of course, as the Fibre cabinet was about to go live in my area

elroy45

Looks to me as if they arent overly keen on promoting this basics package. Very difficult to find on their website.

whiteshorts

Impossible is the word I'd use.

Capt'n Midnight

It's here

http://www.upc.ie/about_us/announcements/

http://www.upc.ie/pdf/UPCBasicsRangeLaunch.pdf

If you are an existing customer get put through to loyalty / cancellations

okidoki987

Why are all the links on this thread for Basic UPC offerings now showing "Page not found"?

okidoki987

Something not right here?

Basics connection on the UPC website says
50 mb unlimited download
&
Home Phone with Freetime World

Cost = €37 per month

but here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057063005

it says €30 per month?

okidoki987

Which is the same price as the 120mb limited downloads with same phone.

Capt'n Midnight

No the question is why they haven't told all the media that reported on the original prices that they've jacked them up already.

www.upc.ie/pdf/basicsbundle.pdf

the 50MB phone + BB is now €37

http://www.upc.ie/broadbandandphone/


Just means that 270,000 eircom customers who haven't dropped their land lines have no financial reason to move when the telephone allowance gets pulled.

Arciphel

In my experience, it always pays to download a copy of those things, especially with UPC! They can have a very short memory, when it suits them. The original PDF with the €30 price is attached. If they pretend it never existed then I would get straight onto ComReg.

Morf

Arciphel wrote: »

In my experience, it always pays to download a copy of those things, especially with UPC! They can have a very short memory, when it suits them. The original PDF with the €30 price is attached. If they pretend it never existed then I would get straight onto ComReg.

I'd be pretty sure if they decide to change their mind before releasing the product they can. UPC Rep on the talk to forum just said something along the lines that "circumstances had changed".

I'm more curious what happens to the few on here that got onto customer loyalty and got it for €27 and €30.

kooga

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

is there a tv only basic package?

if you are an existing customer you can get digital value for €17 they don't advertise it but customer loyalty will arrange it, I got it for my own parents and parents in law one is an mmds customer and the other a cable customer, 12 month contract.

Arciphel

Morf wrote: »

I'd be pretty sure if they decide to change their mind before releasing the product they can. UPC Rep on the talk to forum just said something along the lines that "circumstances had changed".

I'm more curious what happens to the few on here that got onto customer loyalty and got it for €27 and €30.

I entered into a 12 month contract with UPC to provide phone & broadband for €27 a month. The same way that I can't break the contract without penalty, neither can UPC.

Morf

Arciphel wrote: »

I entered into a 12 month contract with UPC to provide phone & broadband for €27 a month. The same way that I can't break the contract without penalty, neither can UPC.

Depends on the definition of contract really. I imagine if there are very few people on it at that rate so it would seem sensible to leave them be rather than not honour the contract and risk a bloody nose should it go on Joe Duffy or the like.

Thegarlad

If you look at the T&C of the Fibre 50 chat bundle it says the Limited bundle is capped at 30GB a month. This suggests there are two Fibre 50 chat bundles

Unlimted - €37 pm
Limited - €30pm ( as per the original pdf release)

I could be wrong on this but thats my understanding...

okidoki987 wrote: »

Something not right here?

Basics connection on the UPC website says
50 mb unlimited download
&
Home Phone with Freetime World

Cost = €37 per month

but here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057063005

it says €30 per month?

okidoki987

They have increased the rate for unlimited download 50mb and Freetime phone to €37 from their original offer of €30.
That's a big increase after only a couple of weeks.

Arciphel

Just got my bill, charged €47 for the month. The inevitable has indeed cone to pass, after spending three weeks with a crap service due to UPC sending me a dodgy modem now I have been overcharged. You couldn't make this stuff up, this crowd have to be the biggest shower of incompetents in the industry.

Arciphel

UPC response from Twitter, the €27/€30 Basics package apparently never launched!

I must have imagined it all lads!

madds

Arciphel wrote: »

UPC response from Twitter, the €27/€30 Basics package apparently never launched!

I must have imagined it all lads!

Get back onto the journo in the Independent who wrote that launch article a few weeks back and ask them to do a follow up story?

Arciphel

Tweeted the Indo journalist and the journo from Tech Republic about it, no response from either of them. Guess they are all about the advertising revenue :-(