DSL Pricing

hmmm

Has anyone ever received a justification from Eircom/Esat/whoever as to how they justify their prices on their DSL products, particularly in comparison to others in Europe? Particularly Esat, who have their parent offering it at a much lower rate. Surely BT have worked out the rate that needs to be charged to recover and make a margin - why should the Irish consumer have to be charged 3x that for the same product?

If operators here expect either a higher ROI, or an accelerated ROI, then without adequate competition it is time for government intervention.

maxheadroom

There is an *ahem* justification from eircom on the IOFFL website - makes interesting if disturbing reading - they seem to have no intention of changing, ever, provided they can get away with it.

STaN

link?

MDR

Esats justification is VERY shaky to say the least ...
I think when it more or less comes down to it,
they are charging alot, 'cos everyone else is.

They have issues in the past with Co-locations charges being to high and stuff, most of this has been resolved in their favour, couple this with the govt. funding €9 million of their €25 million DSL rollout and you find they have very little reason to charge so much.

maxheadroom

Originally posted by STaN
link?

Sorry - here you go:

http://www.irelandoffline.org/home/article.php?story=20020509205229402

viking

Got this from eirCON yesterday:

Dear <viking>

I refer to your recent complaint regarding the pricing of eircom i-stream,
eircom's ADSL service.

eircom's retail product is subject to the same supply conditions from eircom
Wholesale as any other licensed operator and the prices for eircom i-stream
reflect the significant costs of bringing these products to market. eircom
want to introduce products that are commercially sustainable and must price
them accordingly. At launch, eircom is focusing on delivering products to
the business market - product prices reflect this focus.

Prices of ADSL services in Europe vary from country to country depending on
maturity of market, infrastructure and population density. In addition,
there are a broad range of services available and pricing also varies
depending on the service package.

* Features: Product features such speed, number of users and
inclusion/exclusion of ISP charges differ across products and countries.
eircom offers a range of speeds and user numbers across its products. ISP
charges are included in the monthly recurring charge.
* Service quality: In terms of quality of service metrics, operators
will typically offer contention ratios of 20:1 for business users and 50:1
for residential users. Targeted at business users, eircom's i-stream
service is set at 24:1.
* Technology: High speed internet access is available over cable and
DSL in some countries. Monthly recurring charges tend to be lower for cable
than for ADSL. However, as the bandwidth on each cable is shared, quality
can degrade as more customers log on. ADSL is not a shared local loop
access medium so users should not experience service degradations as more
users take up the service
* Customer Support: At launch, all installations are engineer
supported and customers have a telephone support helpdesk facility available
to them free of charge, Monday-Sunday 8am to midnight. In addition, eircom
i-stream is supported by Ireland's largest ISP, eircom.net.

As you are probably aware, eircom must pay for the international
connectivity required to provide access to information located at different
points internationally on the world wide web. The cost of this is based on
capacity required and the amount of information transferred. Customers who
choose the eircom i-stream solo or multi products are given a specified
monthly download allowance. These limits were set based on our experience
of customer usage over the period of trials and research with triallists.
During trials, customers used the service free of charge and were able to
download as much material as desired. Each of the eircom i-stream products
was trialled. Our research showed us that average usage was well within the
limits we have now set on the solo and multi product. eircom i-stream
enhanced has no download limit. By setting the limits at the levels
specified, we feel all customer requirements are covered and only those
customers whose use exceeds the specified amount pay for excessive data
transfer.

Finally, eircom is investigating the development of cheaper product(s)
specifically targeted at the consumer market. These investigations will
include the option to 'self install', a feature of many of the lower cost
European offerings. Development of these products is at a very early stage
and no information regarding product specifications and launch date is
available at the moment. As soon as details are available, they will be
announced

Thank-you for taking the time to contact eircom - we do take all customer
feedback into consideration when developing our products and services. I
have passed your complaint to the ADSL Product Management and Development
Team for reference.

Yours sincerely

Customer Care Mktg

Standard BS...

viking

MDR

Finally, eircom is investigating the development of cheaper product(s)

Been investigating for some time ... must be use Scooby Doo as a consultant

dahamsta

Been investigating for some time ... must be use Scooby Doo as a consultant

Overqualified.

adam

vinnyfitz

I heard pub talk along these lines last night - anyone else hear anything similar?

MDR

Rumour Eircon might launch something cheaper on 2 Jan

Monkey's might fly outta my ass, they have been putting that word around for a while, giving the false impression they are considering this, perhaps hoping to placate a few angry voices.

The simple truth is, it is not in their interest to offer something cheaper .... if they did what sort of bandwidth/cap would it have ?

zynaps

Originally posted by MDR
Been investigating for some time ... must be use Scooby Doo as a consultant

laf, nice one

the Guru

As far as Im aware Esat or Eircom are not allowed to undersell or Sell the DSL products or any products for that matter for less than its cost price This is a directive from the regulator.

the Guru

I think Eircom are Launching a DIY DSL service where you Install the Splitter yourself and this will take the Conx price down .

Meh

Originally posted by the Guru
As far as Im aware Esat or Eircom are not allowed to undersell or Sell the DSL products or any products for that matter for less than its cost price This is a directive from the regulator.

Esat are allowed sell DSL to end-users at whatever price they like. Eircom aren't allowed undercut the wholesale price that they charge other operators (because Eircom have a local loop monopoly and Esat don't). Eircom are abusing a loophole in this rule by setting an absurdly high wholesale price.

highlight

There's no relevance between eircom's wholesale price for their DSL and the Esat retail price - the charges Esat pay to eircom for the line are separate local loop unbundling charges of 16.81 for a full line and 9 for a shared line