Eir apologises again for customer service but hails fibre and 5G roll-out plans 

Chief executive Carolan Lennon said most of Eir's customer service problems had been fixed

Eir chief executive Carolan Lennon hailed the launch of the GoMo retail brand that has attracted more than 250,000 customers. File picture

Eir bosses have again apologised for failing its customers but hailed its rollout of fibre services, 5G, the launch of GoMo, and the €80m acquisition plans of Evros as ways of rebuilding trust.   

The telecom operator had been blasted by its own customers, by TDs, as well as its regulator ComReg over its call centre failures even before the onset of the pandemic in March. 

It said last year its original plan for an outsourced Dublin call centre didn't work because it couldn't hold on to staff but that its refocusing on call centres, including in Cork and Limerick and opening of a new facility in Sligo, was overwhelmed by the Covid-19 crisis.                                  

In a briefing to reporters, chief executive Carolan Lennon and non-executive chair David McRedmond said most of the problems have since been fixed. Ms Lennon and Mr McRedmond were appointed in 2018 by the new owner, the NJJ Telecom Europe, which is controlled by French billionaire Xavier Niel.   

Asked whether the pandemic showed that ComReg should regulate telecom firms more, Ms Lennon said Eir was already working with ComReg. Ms Lennon hailed the launch of the GoMo retail brand that has attracted more than 250,000 customers and the acceleration in demand for its fibre services. 

Its fibre roll-out is designed to challenge Virgin Media in the cities and about a quarter of the €500m investment under that programme has been spent, it said.