Has someone talked to UTV Internet?

dahamsta

A post in a previous thread reminded me of this:

Have Elena/Martin tried to organise a meeting with UTV Internet? Compared to the other the ISP's they seem to be pretty cool, and they have mentioned a flat-rate service. They could pull a serious coup on flat-rate if they rolled out a tiered service program - i.e. different prices for different requirements - and they would stand a good chance of building a loyal user base for when the local loop is actually unbundled and DSL is rolled out.

Could we put these points to them and get a comment about it?

adam

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by dahamsta:
A post in a previous thread reminded me of this:

Have Elena/Martin tried to organise a meeting with UTV Internet? </font>

No real point - they have said they will introduce a flat rate access package only when the new regulations are implemented, at which stage all the ISP's will be doing something similar !

dahamsta

Fair enough Martin, but has anyone actually talked to them? Maybe they're not 100% aware of the situation? Maybe if someone sat down and talked to them, and pointed out the benefits of a flat-rate service, they might be more inclined to roll it out early?

adam

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by o_donnel_abu:
No real point - they have said they will introduce a flat rate access package only when the new regulations are implemented, at which stage all the ISP's will be doing something similar !
</font>

What new regulations?

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Skeptic1:

What new regulations?

</font>

The implementation of 1892 and 1893 dial-in numbers.

UTVInternet have already registered for these, but Eircom are challenging the charge rates proposed by ODTR

[This message has been edited by o_donnel_abu (edited 10-06-2001).]

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by dahamsta:
Fair enough Martin, but has anyone actually talked to them? Maybe they're not 100% aware of the situation? Maybe if someone sat down and talked to them, and pointed out the benefits of a flat-rate service, they might be more inclined to roll it out early?

adam</font>

I think we do need to talk to them as part of establishing ourselves as the group representing end users but I don't think there is any chance of them doing anything on flat rate until charges are sorted out.

In our meeting with Esat, they made it very clear that they want to offer flat rate access, in fairness they took the gamble and went in early with SNL, but the ongoing charges by Eircom make it unfeasible.

Reading bewteen the lines, I think that Esat are losing a lot of money even on the people they didn't disconnect but they are trying to get a balance between minimising losses and holding onto the bulk of their subscriber base. Otherwise they would have offered the 75 hour deal to all the Esat 2000, rather than restricting it to those who rang in and were promised it by customer care. Have to emphasise that this is just my opinion.

Martin

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by o_donnel_abu:
The implementation of 1892 and 1893 dial-in numbers.

UTVInternet have already registered for these, but Eircom are challenging the charge rates proposed by ODTR
</font>

umm, the ODTR has not set prices on the 1892 and 1893, they've set it for LLU only. We're closer to seeing ADSL than we are to seeing flat rate modem access imo

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by hmmm:
umm, the ODTR has not set prices on the 1892 and 1893, they've set it for LLU only. We're closer to seeing ADSL than we are to seeing flat rate modem access imo</font>

Have to admit that whilst I understand the broad principles of this whole thing, I still get confused in the detail.

Good job we have some very technically competent people on the committee

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by o_donnel_abu:
The implementation of 1892 and 1893 dial-in numbers.</font>

I was always confused about this. These numbers are for flat-rate and partial flat rate Internet access. They were introduced with great fanfair by the ODTR as paving the way for flat-rate internet access. The idea being that ISPs could negotiate with Eircom for a flat wholesale rate and then use these prefixes for their dial-up number.

But why was this necessary? Surely Eircom could have done a deal with the ISPs at any time. They may have needed the ODTRs approval but they would have got this pretty quickly. Did the prefixes change anything?

jd

my understanding is that the odtr have set out formally the type of service to be offered on each type of prefix
It makes it easier for consumers to compare the different packages companys may offer.
\It does not set out any retail pricing.

dahamsta

To clarify - apologies for any repetition - the 1892 and 1893 numbers were simply set aside by the ODTR for flat-rate and partial-flat-rate access. The ODTR didn't set prices for these numbers, they left it for the OLO's and Eircom to negotiate between themselves. It could be seen as a well-meaning but naive move on the part of the ODTR, because, as Skeptic1 suggests, this could have been negotiated between the OLO's and Eircom anyway. Or it could be seen as a blind to draw attention away from the core of the problem - the LLU process. The bluff and blunder coming out of the ODTR in recent times - better than average satisfaction with broadband services, for example - would make me lean towards the latter, but then I'm a confirmed cynic and conspiracy theorist.

adam

LegacyUser

I verge to the cynical side too. It's allowed the ODTR to answer all questions about flat rate by saying "well we've done all the necessary groundwork" and so fob off the less technical questioners. What they've really done is avoid the whole problem, which is a) forcing Eircon to offer the service and b) at a reasonable price.

LegacyUser

So, effectively, there is no proposed regulation in favour of flat rate 56K dial-up access.

Are there any other countries apart from Britain (in the EU) with this? It certainly has been successfull there.

LegacyUser

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Skeptic1:
Are there any other countries apart from Britain (in the EU) with this? </font>

If you want to see what is going on in other countries http://www.telecom.eu.org gives links to campaigns in other European countries - only problem is, you need to be multi-lingual

And yes, before you ask, we are working on getting IrelandOffline listed on it