Time to cut the monopoly connection

FOR many rural areas, broadband is a pipe dream and as long as Eircom enjoys a monopoly in the phone line business, that situation will continue.

We may have choices when it comes to who we pay for our phone calls, but if we have problems with our phone lines we cannot go elsewhere for a decent service. For many people using the internet, Eircom does not provide even a decent dial-up service, let alone broadband.

I have been using the internet for 10 years, starting in the days of the 28.8kbps modem and I was getting faster download speeds then than now.

About a year ago Eircom carried out some work on phone lines near my home. After that, connection speeds halved on my line and on my brother’s, next door.

Since then it has deteriorated rapidly — even downloading a tiny email is a hit-and-miss affair. A connection lasting five minutes without being disconnected is a miracle.

If my brother is online in his house I can’t get online, and vice-versa. When my brother contacted Eircom, a representative came to his house, connected a laptop, dialled the internet, and said: “It’s fine, try your settings.”

I have tried numerous internet providers and the same problem occurs — it is not the settings, it is the lines.

I had a perfectly usable connection before Eircom’s work on the lines.

I have been told by someone with experience in these matters that our lines may have been ‘pairgained’. I understand this a way of working two lines on one wire, which is fine for voice, hopeless for internet and impossible for broadband.

If Eircom is doing this routinely in rural areas, we’re essentially paying full rental for half a service.

I emailed Eircom about this at least five times over a two-month period, without reply — not even the courtesy of an acknowledgement. This is some customer service. I have also emailed ComReg and had no reply.

If this is what being a monopoly does, surely it’s time to end it for good?

Maurice Field

Lismire

Newmarket

Co Cork