Frustration as music school left without a phone line since October
A WEXFORD business has been operating without a phone line since last October after an eir engineer sent to install a fibre connection used the old copper wire to try to fish the high-speed cable into the premises.
The fibre installation was unsuccessful and the engineer and a succession of engineers sent to the business since then, have been unable to re-connect the Kiltra School of Music to their old phone connection or to the new service.
According to the owners, during the initial attempt, the fibre cable became jammed and the copper wire was removed, leaving the music school without a landline.
‘It has been extremely frustrating,’ said Robert Mahon, who runs the Wellingtonbridge-based music school with his wife Angela.
‘We’ve lost a lot of hours preparing work for school and advancing projects...it definitely hasn’t been good for our business,’ said Mr Mahon.
He said the problems began after an eir representative called to the door in March last year and said fibre would be available in the area from April, 2017, however, it wasn’t until October 19 that an engineer came to upgrade the service.
‘He tried to use our existing copper wire to fish the fibre through the ducting, but the fibre got jammed and he couldn’t risk pulling it out because it might break. He said he couldn’t re-install the copper wire, so we have been without a phone line ever since.’
Mr Mahon said that since then, and after numerous calls to eir and having to repeatedly explain what the problem was, eir has been unable to find a solution and even a work around to provide the business with a voice over broadband connection was unsuccessful because of issues surrounding post codes in the area.
‘At this time we have no phone line and business customers can’t contact us. Angela has a mobile and an emergency divert was linked to it, but this has been intermittent and unreliable.
‘We have had a succession of engineers out, but basically we are back to square one,’ he said, adding that the latest engineer had suggested pulling up the floorboards to find out where the cable was snared, but the cost to carry out this work would have to be borne by the couple, not eir.
Mr Mahon said that he had complained to the communications regulator Comreg, but they too had been unable to get eir to resolve the problem.
He said that he was currently in touch with a ‘helpful eir employee who was doing her best to find a work around via voice over broadband, but the jammed cable was still jammed and at this time no firm permanent solution was in sight.
Asked for a comment by this newspaper, eir said:
‘Our networks team have investigated the issue. This is not a straightforward service order and there were some problems which have caused a delay in providing full service.
‘The local team are in direct contact with the customer and we expect to have the matter fully resolved in the coming days. We will remain in contact with the customer in the meantime to keep them updated.’
WE’VE LOST A LOT OF HOURS... IT DEFINITELY HASN’T BEEN GOOD FOR OUR BUSINESS