BT: Evening and Weekend calls are now free!

Arboration

Am I the only one who feels like this is a kick in the nuts?

segadreamcast

I feel more like my nuts have been extracted and are now being stamped upon...but each to their own I suppose.

BT give:
ADSL to their capital city.
Unmetered 56k and ISDN packages.
Free evening and weekend calls.
A decent ADSL package overall.

Eircom give:
Ugh...someone get back to me on that one...

kamobe

I think eh - BT were forced just a little along the way, started loosing loads of customers - and THEN started giving

Ya think Eircom will learn from the mistakes of their friends?

Neither do I....

stormkeeper

Eircom give:
Ugh...someone get back to me on that one...

Eircom don't give us much, sadly... Asides from high internet phone bills, with no chance of unmetered internet access in the forseeable future and an ADSL download cap that will be used up in less than 2 weeks at best (well, for me anyway).

Not that I'll be getting DSL anytime soon, as I live in one of the more rural areas... Well not quite rural... I live in Naas, but basically I wont see anything higher than DSL for a year at least.

Life sucks sometimes...

suppafly

part of the problem here in ireland is that our phone system is ancient! its hasn't been upgraded since the put it there! and as for the free phone calls, yeah that really sucks for us! BT should over to Ireland!

Moriarty

Originally posted by suppafly
part of the problem here in ireland is that our phone system is ancient! its hasn't been upgraded since the put it there! and as for the free phone calls, yeah that really sucks for us! BT should over to Ireland!

Our phone network is actually one of the best in europe. During the late 80's it was one of the leading networks in the world. Consider this - Ireland had a fully digitially-switched network years before many of its european counterparts. Its just in the past 5-8 years we have stagnated.

It is still possible for us to have a superb network, (we still have one, tbh) but every day eircom dosent pull their finger out, is another day that other countries are progressing while eircom sit on their arse.

BT is no better than eircom, or DT, or any other major incumbent. The difference is that the uk regulator (OFTEL) made headway with regard to LLU, bitstream access, etc etc about 2-3 years ago. The uk are now bearing the fruits of this. BT has changed its attitude simply because it had to. It was forced to provide DSL, so they have finally decided to go the full whack and try to offer the best services they can.

yellum

Reminds me of the pic of that guy on the Fatboy Slim album cover who looks like a complete slob and his T-Shirt reads "I'm No. 1 so why try harder ? "

dahamsta

[I'm not qualified to say "I'm right and you're wrong" here, I'm mostly going on hearsay. It's pretty common hearsay, but it's certainly not gospel.]

Our phone network is actually one of the best in europe.

It /was/ one of the best in Europe. When I started getting interested in the Internet not so long ago, I had a peripheral interest in comms, which grew to what it is today. Everyone shouted from the rooftops that we have one of the best comms infrastructures in Europe, if not the world. (And given the guff we've been hearing about Ireland every day up until recently, I'm not sure if I'm even inclined to believe that.)

But as far as I can see, Eircom have not invested in building out their networks, or even maintaining it to a decent level. Eircom, just like a lot of bodies and people today in a lot of fields, has been reactive and not proactive in their actions. They build out when they have to; they release products when there is no alternative; they speak only when spoken to. Unless they're selling something...

Of course we can blame this on the tech downturn, but we have to remember that the tech downturn was last year, not five years ago. Up until last year, the world was awash with with Free Money[TM], made available by the modern world's version of Steve Martin, Michael Caine and Glenne Headley in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. (But that's a topic for a different board.)

Ireland's network infrastructure is a mess though. Or more accurately, it /could/ be absolutely wonderful with a little thought and a little more investment, but no-one is willing to put in the thought, and there's definitely no-one willing to put in the money. Yes, all of our exchanges are interconnected digitally, but the capacity of many of the smaller ones is pathetic, and will need to be upgraded before we move to the products we want.

Let's be honest, greed isn't the only factor involved in Eircom's reluctance to roll out broadband at a reasonable price, and flat-rate not at all. The other major factor is that /they can't/. Their network isn't up to it, and because of their - and their "competitors" - unwillingness to co-operate on interconnects and lighting up dark fibre, it's going to be very hard to fix.

It's pathetic really. Telecom Eireann and previous Government deserve praise for what they built. (And unfortunately, that means heaping praise on the wrong party for me, but such is life.) But Eircom are our incumbent Government deserve scorn and disrespect for allowing it to degrade like it has. Call it a party political broadcast if you wish, but I for one want to see Bertie Ahern out of the hot seat. The last few days have only served to bolster that wish.

The man and his executive are, as John McCormac would put it, clueless on technology. They haven't a bulls notion what they're doing, and the people they've asked for advice are /exactly/ the wrong people to approach. Sadly, the other parties aren't much better. The hypocrisy is astounding.

adam

tHE vAGGABOND

dont forget a few things..

UK telecoms industry was deregulated over 10 years ago..

Its taken 10 years of struggle and messing with the Uk regulator over here for BT to get their act together..

BT own Esat...

and something you lads forget all the time, there are 60 million people over here and only 3.5 at home - it will take much longer to recoup investment made at home than over here. Therefore bean counters are prolly worried about making huge investment and not getting money back for ages and ages..

suppafly

Originally posted by Moriarty
BT has changed its attitude simply because it had to. It was forced to provide DSL, so they have finally decided to go the full whack and try to offer the best services they can.

So why doesn't didn't are goverement or whoever give eircomj a kick up the arse to force them to get their act together too? aslo if BT own esat why don't we have some of the services they have?

Arboration

Because the Irish Goverement are ****-stains

Xian

Originally posted by dahamsta
the people they've asked for advice are /exactly/ the wrong people to approach.

Speaking of bad advice, am I the only one concerned that not one of the people chosen to oversee the Government's "Three-year Plan" is from the telecommunications industry?

Moriarty

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
and something you lads forget all the time, there are 60 million people over here and only 3.5 at home - it will take much longer to recoup investment made at home than over here. Therefore bean counters are prolly worried about making huge investment and not getting money back for ages and ages..

I dont think this is much of a problem. Remember that the country is actually far smaller aswell.. If im remembering correctly, Ireland doesnt have a much lower population density than anywhere else in europe. Thats the figure that counts..

mike65

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
dont forget a few things..


BT own Esat...

Not for much longer according to todays Irish Indo.

http://www.unison.ie/business/stories.php3?ca=80&si=731981

Mike

Dangger

Or todays Sunday Business Post