Alternatives to Eircom

rymus

Right well I got my phone bill today and after much effin' and blindin' about the tyrants that sent me the offensive bit of paper I've decided that I'm going to switch both of my phone lines to another operator. I know of a couple of the usual suspects out there like Esat, Spirit, Ocean etc.. but are there any more companies out there?

Of course it would be nicer if it reduced by bills (mainly local & internet calls) but at this stage I'd pay the same rates just as long as I wasnt on Eircom. So any recommendations or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help.

Tellox

I have NTLWorld... only reason im with them is because eircom doesnt get a friggen penny besides the line rental off me... they offer 48hours (saturday and sunday) free for every weekend... its patethic and is an insult to what we used to have, but unfortuntly (and depressingly) its the best I can think of

timod

AFAIK, local calls are the cheapest with Eircom.... (at least over 5 mins...)

Esat have a 3-2-1 option, which means that evening calls to the net are 2c a minute, which is a good deal more expensive.

I looked into the thing a few months back, and Eircom came out cheapest.

Feel free to correct me anyone.
(I didn't look at NTL,cause they ain't in the real capital...)

rymus

Originally posted by timod
(I didn't look at NTL,cause they ain't in the real capital...)

yeh.. I'm a Corkman myself so sadly NTL is slightly out of my reach. I saw on the esat site that they are charging 1c per minute for internet calls off peak now. clicked on the corresponding link but it only brought me to the IOL site where there was no info about the deal. I'm gonna ring them tomorrow anyway to get some detail on it.

If I could get that 1c a min deal it would work out cheaper than eircom (1.25c/min) cos I'm sure I could restrict myself to internet calls on my own line. Anywho.. I'll be back with detail fom esat.

Bard

That 1c per minute deal involves signing up to Esat Fusion (they're still called that aren't they?) and paying for their telephone line service. AFAIK you still pay Eircom the line rental but the calls are billed by Esat. I'm not sure if there's a subscription or equipment rental charge payable to Esat for this...

rymus

Originally posted by Bard
...and paying for their telephone line service. AFAIK you still pay Eircom the line rental but the calls are billed by Esat. I'm not sure if there's a subscription or equipment rental charge payable to Esat for this...

The last I heard from Esat (back when they were EsatClear) you didnt have to pay to switch over from Eircom - I guess they were happy enough knowing they were taking business from them. You do still pay eircom the line rental cos legally they still own the physical line. The thing I'm wondering about at the moment is if you have to pay an internet subscription (a la IOL Gold) to avail of the 1c per minute offer. Maybe Im just being pesimistic but its the kind of thing that telco's have pulled in the past

mdf

You just call the company you wish to switch to, and ask for a form - a Customer application form. BTW, Ocean and Spirit have both been subsumed into Esat.........

NeRb666

Originally posted by Tizlox
I have NTLWorld... only reason im with them is because eircom doesnt get a friggen penny besides the line rental off me... they offer 48hours (saturday and sunday) free for every weekend... its patethic and is an insult to what we used to have, but unfortuntly (and depressingly) its the best I can think of

48 free hours??? I assume that's local calls only, but does that include internet?

Mixie

Nerb, if you switch your phones to NTL too, you get flatrate weekend access - i.e. friday midnight till sunday midnight. I think it works out at about £6 a month different to my old TV only bills from them. Unfortunately - during the week, offpeak local calls with NTL cost £1/hr.

Yoda

When I switched my ISP from Indigo to Esat I asked them about switching my phone too. They asked me to fax them some bills, and analysed them, and came back to me saying that in fact, given the kinds of calls I make, it would be in my interests to keep my phone with Eircom.

That was pretty honest, if you ask me.

MarkMI6

OK I'm on Oceanfree, do i automatically get switched over to 1c p/min, do I have to fill out some form or is it only avaible through Fusion? This is well confusing.

rymus

right well an application form is winging its way to my doorstep currently.

The 1c/min offer only stands if u use IOL as your ISP apparently.

Mark - it only works if you switch your phone service to Esat


yeh Yoda, very honest of them... you wouldnt get eircom spouting truth like that (if only)

MarkMI6

OK I just downloaded IOLFree, now what do i do, is there a form somewhere? These companies all have ****e websites.

rymus

you could do it the old fashioned way and ring them.. ask the sales drone for an application form...

Manic

I'm not sure if this will be of any help to anyone they seem to be little known in Ireland but they might be worth a try

http://www.elivefree.net/

I did not go into the statistics of Elive just yet so I do not know if they are even worth going through.

Ruu_Old

Elive seems better and faster than any that ive tried. i never got over 40,000 bps now i dont get under 48,000 it connects fine everytime, not like any of the others which hang up and crap.