Article in Sunday Times by Jane Suiter..

Dangger

It appears that not all of the mails sent to Ms. Suiter were courteous and informative.

Whilst its great to see members engaging and contacting journalists to offer information, nothing is to be gained from being rude or ranting at someone who may be in a position to allow your thoughts and comments to be aired in their publication.

We have been most fortunate with the relationship IrelandOffline has built with many publications. We value and require the coverage they have given us!

Don't stop emailing, just please consider carefully the contents of your mails when you flash the IOFFL badge.

David Long

LFCFan

Hi Jane,

I would just like to point out a few things to you regarding the article you wrote about Broadband in Ireland.

Firstly, Eircom say their i-Stream service is available to 500,000 people. Well, this is a lie. There may be 500,000 people connected to the exchanges that were enabled for DSL access but because of distances from the exchange and very poorly kept phone lines there are very few who can actually pass the test to get ADSL.

Secondly, for those who pass the test for ADSL there are vast majority of them who refuse to pay extreme prices for the service. €107 a month including VAT for a service that has a 3GB data limit. In other countries this service is provided for around €20 - €30 a month with NO cap on data.

Thirdly you point out that 25% don't want it and 30% probably don't want it but what about the 45% that DO want it. That's a hell of a lot of people. It is also in line with other countries figures for broadband penetration so I'd say there is a very high demand for a decent, low priced, uncapped broadband internet service.

If you don't believe me, take a look at http://www.irelandoffline.com or check out what the members have to say on their message board at http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=60.

Thanks for your time in reading this,


Sincerely,


XXXXXXXXXXXXx

PiE

Aidan - You letter re broadband was passed to me for inclusion in this
week's paper. Could I please have your address for publication?

Regards

Ciaran Hancock

Sweet, this could be pretty big :]

PiE

Anybody got this paper yet?

Anything in it?

I'm too lazy to get dressed and go to the shop :]

mike65

Two letters taking issue with Suiters article were published, one by Dave Wall the other by Aiden Roach. Suiter herself wrote an article on a report regarding something else entirely. So maybe next week.

Mike.

LFCFan

Originally posted by mike65
Two letters taking issue with Suiters article were published, one by Dave Wall the other by Aiden Roach. Suiter herself wrote an article on a report regarding something else entirely. So maybe next week.

That would be me. I completely forgot to get the paper. Gonna have to get it now.

Paddy20

A letter published in the Sunday Times is worth its weight in gold.

I wonder if the two published letters were also included in the English edition? if so, a double whammy for our campaign has been scored.

Great news:)

Yours,

paddy20:p :- Even though I personally no longer buy The Sunday Times!.

LFCFan

I have to say, I'm fairly chuffed. Unfortunatly the bit at the end of my e-mail taling about Ireland Off Line wasn't included in the published letter. Was IoffL mentioned in the other letter or anywhere else on the page? Haven't actually seen the paper yet myself.

monument

Originally posted by pork99
well obviously broadband is only for "whining anoraks" so nobody wants it; everyone wants Sky Digital though!!!!

If the price was right what about any one who owns a PS2 or XBox and wants online gaming?

Originally posted by seamus
Also, Broadband penetration relies heavily on internet exposure and reliability - Ireland's poor penetration figures show that enough isn't being to done to convince people the internet is useful, let alone broadband.......

Wouldn’t it be a good idea for the telecoms to get involved in promoting the internet more?

But then again, most people that I know who don’t have the internet at home says its two expensive, its NOT that they wouldn’t use it.

parasite

ack - i can't see the letters .... :mad:

pepsiman

Originally posted by parasite
ack - i can't see the letters....

There were two letters published in Sunday Times in the Business section (3) page 4:

EIRCOM BROADBAND: I would like to make a few points regarding Jane Suiter's recent article about broadband in Ireland.

Eircom says its i-Stream service is available to 500,000 people. There may be 500,000 people connected to the exchanges enabled for DSL access, but because of distances from the exchange and poorly kept lines there are few who can actually pass the test to get ADSL (assymetric digital subscriber lines).

For those who can pass, most refuse to pay €107 a month including Vat for a service with a 3GB data limit. In other countries, it costs €20-€30 a month with no cap on data.

You point out that 25% don't want it and 30% probably don't want it. But what about the 45% who do want it. There is high demand for a decent, low-priced, uncapped broadband service in Ireland.

Dave Wall
Ireland Offline

...and...

BROADBAND DREAMS: You were taken in by Eircom's view that broadband isn't wanted.

Uptake is low because Eircom has priced it too highly. In the UK, DSL is availble for €25-€30 a month with no download limit. Eircom's DSL costs €107 a month with a 3GB download limit and a charge for every megabyte thereafter.

Why have so many Irish businesses bought "always on" leased lines (costing €25,000 a year) from Eircom if they don't need them? Individuals cannot afford the price Eircom asks.

Jupiter Research's findings show that 25% would not get broadband and 30% were unlikely to. What about the other 45% who do want it?

You say "the cost of broadband is set to fall slightly when EsatBT delivers its €50 per month offer in time for Christmas". The EsatBT service is a 256k DSL service - half the speed of Eircom's. Half the speed, half the price. Big deal.

"However, the company's top-speed service will still cost €89 per month . . ." Wrong. It will cost €89 per month before Vat is added at 21%, bringing it to about €107 per month.

(A. R.)
Dublin 7

/Thomas

Paddy20

Pepsiman,

The 2 letters are in the Sunday Times, "Business section (3) page 4:"?

Sheer magic!

This is even better than I originally thought and bound too be picked up by other influential media!.

Me, jumping up and down and rubbing hands with glee - "Justice at last" another fine example of the - power of the pen, over greed and blatant evil business practises of shortsighted numbskulls. Enough said.

It has made my day:)

Yours,

paddy20;)

parasite

sorry, i was looking in the main section
business sections leave me cold, and generally are used to start the fire

OHP

Call me Insert word / words here " "
But after paying for the Times just to read the letters that were (sorry 2 of the letters) posted here I am somewhat dissapointed. While a lot of thought / effort etc. was given by IOFFL members. Little thought or effort was shown by Jane in her article. If she actually took the time to read everything she was sent and directed to her, her article (i'm sure) would have been more worthwhile reading. Nice letters from all you guys but it's a pithy it was wasted.

nough said,

OHP

Paddy20

OHP,

All publicity is good publicity, especially when it concerns a worthy cause! So, keep your spirits up? eh! and give "Jane" the opportunity too put matters right as the BBC did some week back.

Which will mean even more publicity, oh my god the "Snowball" is gathering momentum and geting bigger by the second.

Be happy;)

Yours,

paddy20:p "The bad guys & gals are on the run inthis wild west??...