Smart employee happy to answer questions on bb rollout

loup

Garfield, before I post off my DD form to SMART, can you CONFIRM the Ballyboden exchange is included in the July/Aug phase? If it has been dropped can you let us know? Thanks

iano

Garfield, can you please try to resist the temptations to use rubbish analogies (Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Singapore ... ) and stick to providing information and addressing the issues raised?

The problem identified wherby Eircom will not allow the transfer of a line with Bitstream service is a failure of Regulation. It is a significant impediment to competition.
A Customer should be free to choose to have his line unbundled, regardless of whether or not he has broadband. Has Smart Telecom raised this with ComReg?

If you do not get this sorted, then many or most of your orders will be rejected by Eircom.

This would reduce your target market to one of:
(a) customer who does not currently have broadband
or
(b) customer who is willing to accept a minimum of 2 weeks (and potentially much more) downtime

If I have missed or misunderstood something, please correct me as I would like to get the service but would not accept a downtime of many weeks.

GarfieldConnoll

loup wrote:

Garfield, before I post off my DD form to SMART, can you CONFIRM the Ballyboden exchange is included in the July/Aug phase? If it has been dropped can you let us know? Thanks

It's on the list. Obviously, if there's a delay on the exchange, the contract doesn't 'kick in' until you go live.

Garfield.

Ruhan

Very interesting.

flamegrill

iano wrote:

The problem identified wherby Eircom will not allow the transfer of a line with Bitstream service is a failure of Regulation. It is a significant impediment to competition.
A Customer should be free to choose to have his line unbundled, regardless of whether or not he has broadband. Has Smart Telecom raised this with ComReg?

If you do not get this sorted, then many or most of your orders will be rejected by Eircom.

This would reduce your target market to one of:
(a) customer who does not currently have broadband
or
(b) customer who is willing to accept a minimum of 2 weeks (and potentially much more) downtime

If I have missed or misunderstood something, please correct me as I would like to get the service but would not accept a downtime of many weeks.

I'd disagree slightly to be honest. The OLO's have contracts with eircom, its not quite as plain as the contract between the customer and the OLO. The OLO in turn has a contract with eircom on that particular line. The OLO has to cease services on this line before eircom can move it to another OLO (or LLU OLO..) or eircom breach their contract with the OLO.

I'd agree that perhaps sharper regulation may have picked up on this and addressed it. However its the same as any reseller relationship, each party has a contract with their upstream provider (networking term. .. but works) so its not as simple.

But I can see ways around it and its all down to regulation. But its no where near as simple as implied.

Paul

markyboy

Hi Garfield,

Thanks for your informative replies to date.

Just another quick question about the when/if the Douglas exchange will be enabled. It was asked a few times but unanswered afaik (unless Cork central is Douglas).

Thanks in advance,
Mark.

PS Hettyfield near Douglas was also asked on page 1

Furp

Hi Garfield,

I am on the Navan Exchange AUVC and the site say's there is no date set yet, can I still sign up, any idea if the Navan exchange will be switched over?

Currently I am with ESATBT for BB and Phone, and line rental so which account number do i put into the form, my esat bt account number or my old eirom number i don't remember getting a UAN number.

Thanks

center15

Hi Garfield, is there any word on the douglas exchange in cork. I've asked this question along with others but I understand you can't answer them all. The exchange is a huge exchange and I can't see why it's not on the list when it's in such a central part of Cork, have Smart over looked something?I'm sure that if required a petition could be put together just to show the amount of people wanting to connect to Smart.
thanks again for coming on boards.

Center15,

Just had a quick chat with the Metro guys (They do much more work in Cork that I do). The Douglas area doesn't seem to be anywhere close to the Cork MAN. Correct me on this if I'm wrong. Check out http://www.magnumopus.ie/resources.asp?id=18# for the route map of the MAN. If it was close enough to the Douglas exchange, we would definitely go there.

Garfield.

colmoc

Hi Garfield,

Thanks for your informative replies so far.

I've just moved into a new house in the Balbriggan area and was hoping to avoid Eircom if at all possible. Could you answer the following:

1. When is the Balbriggan exchange likely to come on stream?

2. If I were to apply for Smart BB now when would you need a phone number to ensure that I qualified for the free line rental?

3. When does the free line rental kick in? Eircom are offering free connection to new houses until the end of March so if I availed of this and your offer of BB + call charges, would the free line rental kick in immediately?

4. How quickly do you expect to fill the 100K quota?

GarfieldConnoll

iano wrote:

Garfield, can you please try to resist the temptations to use rubbish analogies (Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Singapore ... ) and stick to providing information and addressing the issues raised?

Was simply clarifying an existing analogy on the thread. I don't think it's rubbish, though even if I did, I don't see how it would be useful to rubbish other peoples ideas/ comments.

iano wrote:

The problem identified wherby Eircom will not allow the transfer of a line with Bitstream service is a failure of Regulation. It is a significant impediment to competition.
A Customer should be free to choose to have his line unbundled, regardless of whether or not he has broadband. Has Smart Telecom raised this with ComReg?

Yes.

iano wrote:

If you do not get this sorted, then many or most of your orders will be rejected by Eircom.

This would reduce your target market to one of:
(a) customer who does not currently have broadband
or
(b) customer who is willing to accept a minimum of 2 weeks (and potentially much more) downtime

If I have missed or misunderstood something, please correct me as I would like to get the service but would not accept a downtime of many weeks.

Agreed.

The Clown Man

Iano,

Please don't be so aggressive; words like "rubbish" can only dissuade people whom are trying to be as helpful as possible from being as helpful as possible.


Garfield,

Just as a starter, I think your (fairly unprecedented and very brave!) interaction with the boards community resembles a new level of highly pro-active consumer interaction which can only serve as a huge advantage to both your company and the end consumer. As you can see there are a lot of very knowledgable people on the boards all with their own often very well founded ideas on how an ideal ISP should run. Filtering out the idealism from the good business sense is your happy task! So far this nameless commentator thinks you are making a fine job of it!

Having said that, based on what I have read here I will be changing all 5 of the broadband lines that are in my personal charge over to Smart as soon as my exchange is enabled. (Dundalk) Also, as an IT consultant I will be recommending any of my clients connected to one of your exchanges to switch. I will however be very interested to hear of any future packages that provide a higher upload. Due to the use of internal mail servers and for purposes of remote maintenance and remote database connections, upload speed in my business is vital.


Also, although I do not pretend to be one of the aforementioned "knowledgables," I might make a brief suggestion:

Are your policies are regarding extending your own fibre to local exchanges restricted to physical fibre alone? Obviously the time and money required to supply fibre directly to the exchage would be substantial. In my own limited experience I have been led to believe that wireless connections using the 5.8G spectrum tend to be very reliable. Have you looked at using wireless equipment as a means for extending your backhaul to exchanges on a temporary basis until more MANs are available throughout Ireland?

Admittedly, I do not personally know the pro's and con's of using wireless for backhaul but I have heard that 5.8G is very stable in comparison to the 2.4G or even 3.5G spectrums. Maybe some of the more knowledgable folks on boards might add more to the suggestion or even ridicule it entirely but I'm sure the interaction will help.

Moriarty

Junk split off to a new thread.

Wertz

OK against my gut feeling I've signed up for this in the hope I can escape €ircon's clutches for once and for all.

However one question bugging me (and it's bugging me since it remains unanswered) is the thing about direct debit mandate form for Credit Cards.
Is it an oversight on behalf of Smart?
As it stands I refuse to sign up DD through my bank account after raeding some of the horror stories. I have no probem using DD through credit card but HOW if there is NO form?
Smart's own FAQ page states "We require a direct debit payment. This is an advanced monthly payment that is taken from either your bank account or a credit card." The PDF is bank Only...

Appreciate an answer to this Garfield as would a few other posters I'm sure.
As it stands I'm in, but only if the CC DD thing is in...

GarfieldConnoll

Hi,

There has been some questions about latency so I went and spoke with the Network guys.

These are the latency figures on our core network. All the DSLAMs are being connected to the core network, so the DSLAMs will (I really should say 'should' to cover myself) experience the following latency figures:

1. Regional MAN- Dublin: 4ms RTT
2. Dublin- London: 21ms RTT
3. Dublin- New York: 79 ms RTT

Hope this helps.

Garfield.

GarfieldConnoll

Wertz wrote:

OK against my gut feeling I've signed up for this in the hope I can escape €ircon's clutches for once and for all.

However one question bugging me (and it's bugging me since it remains unanswered) is the thing about direct debit mandate form for Credit Cards......

Appreciate an answer to this Garfield as would a few other posters I'm sure.
As it stands I'm in, but only if the CC DD thing is in...

Will have an answer in the morning, asked for it to be looked into.

Thanks,

Garfield.

Wertz

GarfieldConnoll wrote:

Will have an answer in the morning, asked for it to be looked into.

Thanks,

Garfield.

Thanks for the quick reply; bodes well for the future I hope.
Perhaps you could update this thread if/when this is sorted.

markyboy

Looks like Douglas is off the map completely then. Funny you see signs all the way to Douglas letting you know this project is being funded bla bla bla!

colmoc

colmoc wrote:

Hi Garfield,

Thanks for your informative replies so far.

I've just moved into a new house in the Balbriggan area and was hoping to avoid Eircom if at all possible. Could you answer the following:

1. When is the Balbriggan exchange likely to come on stream?

2. If I were to apply for Smart BB now when would you need a phone number to ensure that I qualified for the free line rental?

3. When does the free line rental kick in? Eircom are offering free connection to new houses until the end of March so if I availed of this and your offer of BB + call charges, would the free line rental kick in immediately?

4. How quickly do you expect to fill the 100K quota?

If you get a chance could you answer any or all of these queries for me Garfield.

Thanks,
C.

Rew

He's answered 1 (the long list he gave a few posts back) and 2 yes you do need a phone number. As for 3 I would have thought your free line rental kicks in as soon as they unbubdle the line (ie as soon as you get the service). 4 will be intresting to see...

cherrio

Garfield,

thanks for 'sticking around' and answering so many questions. I just have one more myself.

Exchanges that are close to our fibre network come on-net quicker and we prioritise the rollout on that bases.

Could you please provide a list of exchanges that will come online first (i.e. have the first priorty)? I ask because while I am only interested in my exchange (exchange code DYXB), I am sure you do not want everyone here asking you the same question

When I check my phone number, it says "Congratulations, Broadband is available to you! It will be available in May/June" (my heart rose then sank as I read it initially!), is this a realistic release / launch date?

thanks again.

Moriarty

A list was posted a few pages back, cherrio. It's also available here at the bottom of the first post.

Rew

Looks like the questions are beginning to get repetitive

Moriarty

Indeed. I might do something about that tomorrow if I get some time.

cherrio

Moriarty wrote:

A list was posted a few pages back, cherrio. It's also available here at the bottom of the first post.

Thanks for the link, that does answer my main question. I know my second question is a little difficult to answer (rollout dates been realistic), perhaps instead simple update us when an exchange has been completed.

Forgive me if this has already been answered, but registering on www.smarttelecom.ie, is it commiting myself to changing over? What exactly am I signing up for?

Rew

cherrio wrote:

Thanks for the link, that does answer my main question. I know my second question is a little difficult to answer (rollout dates been realistic), perhaps instead simple update us when an exchange has been completed.

Forgive me if this has already been answered, but registering on www.smarttelecom.ie, is it commiting myself to changing over? What exactly am I signing up for?

From what I gather the exchange dates are more accurate the nearer they are. The comitment question I haven't seen answered (or asked) but I could be wrong.

GarfieldConnoll

Regedit wrote:

Hi
If U get the time, could U answer when do U plan to enable Castleknock, namely the Blanchardstown exchange. Someone already asked this. It is a very densly populated area and I would think that the takeup would be satisfacory.
TIA

The above is a PM posted to me yesterday. I hope Regedit doesn't mind me posting here. I just want to avoid repetition.
Blanchardstown isn't anywhere near our footprint at present and the exchange itself is on the 'wrong' side of a large road (my geography isn't what it should be).
We're looking at all the 'big' exchanges in Dublin that we're missing and are going to see what alternate infrastructure we could use to provide service.
So, short answer is, we want to get there, don't know how yet.

Garfield.

GarfieldConnoll

The Clown Man wrote:

Are your policies are regarding extending your own fibre to local exchanges restricted to physical fibre alone?

Our policy is that we own/ manage the capacity into an exchange. In this fashion, we have complete control of the capacity to the exchange and hence, the customer experience. We deliver 2.5G of capacity (protected) to each exchange (5G unprotected). That's quite a bit of capacity, hence the offer being what it is.

The Clown Man wrote:

Admittedly, I do not personally know the pro's and con's of using wireless for backhaul but I have heard that 5.8G is very stable in comparison to the 2.4G or even 3.5G spectrums. Maybe some of the more knowledgable folks on boards might add more to the suggestion or even ridicule it entirely but I'm sure the interaction will help.

We've used licensed wireless to extend our fibre footprint on at least one occasion previously and is something we have in the back of our minds. There are lots of other issues to be addressed regarding its deployment and we have our hands/ heads full with the current rollout.

Short answer: nothing discounted as long as we have control.

Garfield.

GarfieldConnoll

Sponge Bob wrote:

Surprise Surprise

Eircom have appealed both the proposed LLU Pricing and the proposed LLU Process matrix.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=226345

Smart will probably start servicing customers in May at the earliest Dub45 , as you said .

And on it goes: http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/PR150205.pdf

Just to clarify, eircom are appealing the directions on creation of the MRD (market requirements document). The two directions are:

1. Engage with industry.
2. Create the matrix and associated service combinations and processes.

Pricing is not being appealed.

Garfield.

aaf

That M50 has alot to answer for. Traffic congestion and now, lack of smart BB! The Blanchardstown exchange is attached to the side of the Blanchardstown shopping centre. It services a huge catchment area. Maybe it should be looked at again?

GarfieldConnoll wrote:

The above is a PM posted to me yesterday. I hope Regedit doesn't mind me posting here. I just want to avoid repetition.
Blanchardstown isn't anywhere near our footprint at present and the exchange itself is on the 'wrong' side of a large road (my geography isn't what it should be).
We're looking at all the 'big' exchanges in Dublin that we're missing and are going to see what alternate infrastructure we could use to provide service.
So, short answer is, we want to get there, don't know how yet.

Garfield.

Ardent

Garfield

There is a post on the previous page with a question from colmoc about Eircom's free connection offer:

3. When does the free line rental kick in? Eircom are offering free connection to new houses until the end of March so if I availed of this and your offer of BB + call charges, would the free line rental kick in immediately?

This is something I would need to know too. Do we need Eircom to connect the line initially and then do Smart Telecom take over the rental of that line? Or how does it work?

Thanks for your time.
John