Esat doin a flat rate

unknown_a38

I rang esat this evenin and the girl told me that esat were introducin flat rate packages on august 1st though they wud different slightly from no limits. you'd have so many hours that u could go online.

vampyre

I have details about this. It is more an off peak block of time per month rather than flat rate. An interim solution to what our little crisis. Flat rate is coming apparently and this expected ODTR ruling next week should be a major help. On a side not why is everything always done inAugust over here? New products are always August.

aidan_dunne

If this is true can we have more details, please? How many hours would it be limited to, price etc. Somehow I can't see this happening unless Esat have managed to come to some sort of agreement with Eircom and there has been no sign of that happening. I think it would have been mentioned on one of the technology news websites or something and I've not seen anything.

I'm not calling you a liar unknown_a38, I just think the girl in Esat might be either pulling your leg, getting your hopes up for no reason or might have the wrong end of the stick on something. Perhaps she was talking about Esat's ADSL offering.

MarkR

Any port in a storm. Are the details posted anywhere, or did you hear from them over the phone?

unknown_a38

i have no more details.she jus said details off it wud me more clearer when the time comes.

aidan_dunne

Guess we'll just have to wait then, won't we? I, for one, won't be holding my breath because if I did that every time I've heard similar things in the past 12 months I would have suffocated a long time ago! lol

Raskolnikov

I have heard similar rumblings from another source so lets just wish that this isn't a coincidence. I hope Esat can reintroduce No Limits as that was an ideal solution for me and most people who only use the net at night

BoneCollector

As you may know.. in the uk some providers offer several tarrifs to suit both the occassional user and alday user.
clara.net is just one of them, seems to have alot! of choices.
maybe.. one day we will have the same
http://www.uk.clara.net/homeaccess/options/ftanytime.phtml
(if you wanna have a look)

vampyre

Still in development stage but blocks of 30 hours off peak and 60 hours off peak were mooted. I feel I can't say more as they were specified as approx prices. 60 hours isn't a lot and I would have preferred anytime, not off peak only. i don't know what else may be available those are the two I was told about

TARE

Will it be available for isdn users ?

vampyre

Feel free to correct me but i don't think Esat offer ISDN and they are the ones agitating for FRIACO and block time, but logic would dictate that eircom isdn should offer this in time. Having said logic and eircom are polar opposites that do not attract.

BoneCollector

blocks of 30 hours off peak and 60 hours off peak were mooted

But realisticaly.. we need anytime access if it is to benifit to whole country..

Fine for people who are out working alday and only get to use it at home in the evening..
But for the disabled, unemployed or casual user or online shopper, you need all day access at flat rate.

case in point..
If your unemployed looking for work, you need to access the web anytime to send receive correspondence, and since you dont have an income, you dont want to be burdened with phone charges while job seeking..

We realy need Anytime access so as to benifit everyone even if it has block time attached to it. (its not as if this will get the whole nation online all day all at the same time... since most of us are out working, in collage or doing other things)

aidan_dunne

Agreed BoneCollector but there's another thing Eircom and the others need to also consider.

When flat-rate was introduced in the UK it didn't mean the end of the per-minute pricing model either. Per-minute offerings are still available in the UK for people who only use the net occasionally and don't want to pay a subscription each month. When we ask for flat-rate, it's not like we're also asking Eircom to totally drop per-minute pricing. I think the per-minute model will always have it's place especially, as I said, for the occasional net users.

However, we need to have the same kinds of choices as they do in the UK, i.e. flat-rate or per-minute, whichever suits each particular user. In my opinion, lack of choice is just plain wrong and needs to be addressed quickly. After all, mobile phone operators have dozens of tarriffs available for the customer to choose from depending on their situation. Why shouldn't internet and landline users also have the same choice?

vampyre

Aidan, couldn't agree with you more. And what of people who are thinking of trying out the net? They don't want to pay for 24/7. I think in the UK its £14.99 for 24/7 and £6.99 for off peak. Block time will be gone too fast and I wanted access for business hours because, DUH e mail is a useful business tool/ online ordering is cool etc. but this reality has passed eircom by. I do know now for sure esat really do want FRIACO I wasn't sure for a while.

aidan_dunne

Well, I have to admit that for a long time I was really wondering if Esat really cared about FRIACO or not. For some time I got the impression that Esat and Eircom seemed more than happy to milk the per-minute pricing model for everything it was worth and I even felt they were in some sort of collusion together regarding this.

However, Esat do seem interested in getting FRIACO up and running if they are going to try out this "block" thing. It's not much, admittedly, but it's a start. It seems they do want to offer some sort of flat-rate package but, after getting stung with No Limits, they know they can't offer a package like that again until a full FRIACO agreement has been reached and have decided to do a limited flat-rate scheme so there will be something there for those who want flat-rate but at the same time covering their own ar$es and making sure they don't suffer the same losses they did with No Limits.

Like I said, it's not much but from small acorns large oaks grow and all that! Once this scheme is going, Esat should then really push Eircom and the ODTR hard for a full FRIACO offering because we can't continue like this for much longer. Eircom, please wake up and realise this!

NeMiSiS

This country is crazy,simple theory ya..i sell something cheaper than someone else I sell more of it than them,admitidly eircom are screwing esat but like.It couldnt be costing esat that much to offer flat rate could it ?

I remeber when no limits was out,I told ppl 'yeah i only pay 20 quid a month for internet access during the day you pay per minute ,but off peak and at weekends its free bar the 20 quid subscription' their reply was 'that sounds great ! im paying eircom twice that plus paying for the call aswell! you got a number to ring them at ?'

if esat rang ppl the way eircom do about isdn and said 'hey we can give you off peak internet access for 20 quid a month on isdn' it would cut the arse outta eircom within a month. then if they ring and say 'hey we can give you sdsl internet access for 20 quid more than your paying for isdn and its allways on and **** fast' eircom would be urinating on the floor in terror.

whats the problem here ? does esat not want to make money.they can moan and moan about what eircom charges..but go do something about it..put your ass in gear esat and take their cutomers theres what now 7 or 8 thousand irelandoffline members who want flat rate hell if i had he finance id do it myself.

Bitch moan and complain to the gov everyday till they get off their asses stand up and admit theres a huge shortage of decent internet access in eire,ring them first thing everyday and say

'hey eircom are screwing us and this country and we are going make damn sure the country and the rest of europe knows about this,how do you think ppl going into work everyday would feel if they knew they could work just as well at home if they had decent internet access and a cheap rate!?

'how many companies do you think have not came to eire because ofthe state of internet access??!,how many unemployed people could have been employed by those companies?'

'how many cars do you think we could take off the road in the mornings and evenings because ppl will be working at home?!'

'how many children do you think are missing out on the educational benifits of the internet because of the mess you and eircom created?'

eh bit of an over reaction there but eh i got my fone bill today id like to say a big '**** you' to eircom

adios
nem

aidan_dunne

You do raise one interesting point there, NeMiSiS, and it's something I've been wondering about myself for a long time.

How many people here have ever seen an ad on the television for Esat? We're constantly bombarded with Eircom ads all the time but you never see one for Esat Home or Esat Business. You never hear an ad for them on the radio, either. The only times you see anything about them are in newspapers and magazines and a lot if the time these are mainly only seen in technology mags such as PC Live. You seem to be right, NeMiSiS. If Esat want to compete against Eircom they really need to do a lot more advertising and stick it to Eircom.

Just a point!

dahamsta

I just fail to understand why Esat won't file a complaint with the Regulator about the (alleged) failure of negotiations for a flat-rate service. I mean, it's not as if we're talking about a court case right from the off here, they can just file a complaint and see what the Regulator comes up with. Even if the Regulator has tipped them the nod that she won't be able to help, it will put things in the public eye. Whereas now all we can see if shady dealings between the operators and the Government, and pure, unadulterated greed.

But I guess that's all it comes down to in the end.

adam

hunkypex

yup i was phoned up three times by eirgom. I remember when no limits first came out it was on the six o clock news. There were adverts with that big lump who ran esat that were a bit vague maybe for the average user concerning no limits but they were there. So yes if esat marketed it agressivly itd be sure to take off and knock lumps off eircoms "theres no interest"

vampyre

esat must pare costs to the bone or Bt will pull the plug on them once and for all. They simply don't have the resources and the printed media is dominated by AJF, indirectly so is RTE. The argument goes thus- eircom will name a price and insist it is cost efficient and for them it may be. But as eircom in themselves are anything but cost efficent, the price they name is not by anyone elses standards cost efficent. I think it gets to a point you are looking at the courts for a solution and that could be a very costly gamble. Behold chaos in action.

aidan_dunne

Yeah, the muppets in Eircom seem to have their own definition of what "cost efficient" is. If a product reaps a 500% profit for Eircom it's "cost efficient." If not, it's not considered cost efficient by their standards and is dropped or not introduced.

Muppets! :mad:

vampyre

Think before you speak!!! The wonderful entities created by jim Henson's creature workshop (except for Prarie Dawn) have nothing in common with eircom people. Even as lifeless unanimated shells theya re a huge improvement on those to use a great and appropriate wrestling word, jabronis.

aidan_dunne

No offence intended. I used to love the muppets, in fact.

All together now.......

Phenomenon, do do do do dooo,
Phenomenon, do do do do dooo,
Phenomenon, do do do do dooo do do dooo do do dooo do do dooo do do do de do!

Bios

Is there any facts about this yet?

Nuphor

blocks of 30 hours off peak and 60 hours off peak were mooted

Interesting. But if that's 30 and 60 repectively per month, then it's a pretty palty offer. That's an hour a week for free by my reckoning, which is rediculous. If that was say for a week it'd be a pretty good deal. But since this is all probably all based upon rumour anyway, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Here's to hope.

unknown_a38

its not rumours cos if u ring esat fusion and ask them if have they any plans to introduce a flat rate package they tell you that something slightly different from no limits will be available within the next couple of months supposedly august.

Dr.Seagull

well its still rumours untill it officaly announced by esat

Dangger

We've a meeting with Bill Murphy of Esat on the cards for mid July, and one with Dr. Philp Nolan of Eircom at the end of July. So by then we should be able to get to the bottom of this one!

vampyre

Originally posted by Dr.Seagull
well its still rumours untill it officaly announced by esat

I have details in writing from esat but they clearly state the products are in development. However the prices are not going to make you happy. As a guide, take subscription +time and divide by 2, .ie pay .7cp/min. I am hoping devoutly that they are holding off in case the exact wording of the forthcoming directive may change things for the better. I am also expecting Eircom to challange the ruling in court thereby ensuring I will be dead before FRIACO comes.

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by Dangger
We've a meeting with Bill Murphy of Esat on the cards for mid July, and one with Dr. Philp Nolan of Eircom at the end of July. So by then we should be able to get to the bottom of this one!

One point that I think should be raised with Bill Murphy is why haven't they put a request for FRIACO to the ODTR, seeing as they are getting nowhere in their negotiations with Eircom. Point out to him that these negotioations have gone on long enough and are getting nowhere and that the ODTR has said they can intervene only when an operator requests them to. Why haven't they done this yet? When it was seen that Eircom weren't going to budge Esat should have said, "Right, sod this. This isn't going anywhere. Let's take it up with the ODTR," and handle it from there. However, they have continued with these negotiations with no result so why drag it out any longer. The request should be made to the ODTR and it should be made NOW! I think this point should be raised with Mr. Murphy.

As for Philip Nolan, well, all I can do is wish you luck because, seeing as this is Eircom you're dealing with, by God you're going to need every bit of luck you can get!