Poor telecommunications frustrating residents in Ballyhooly
Several houses within a Ballyhooly estate have been waiting as long as 12 months for broadband and internet connections.
One Lios Ard estate resident described the situation as ‘pathetic’, stating that bad telecommunications connections in the area have been an ongoing issue.
As many as 15 houses in the estate remain without proper internet access due to poor reception and bad connections and have been waiting on the installation of new lines for as long as 12 months.
“I have a box, a modem, but the connection is so bad, I had to turn off the wifi on my phone all morning because my son wouldn’t have been able to do his course on the computer if I had the internet on my phone. I’ve been living here five months, but this has been going on much longer. It’s just brutal,” the resident said.
The resident’s son is currently undertaking an online apprenticeship course, and while he can log in, she claims the reception often drops, meaning he has to sign out and log in again.
“I’m paying eir €30 a month and it’s pathetic. It doesn’t even do my TV half the time,” the frustrated resident added.
With houses in the area newly built, the resident questioned as to why a line connection wasn’t installed from day one, as she notes she currently cannot get a landline or house phone because of this.
“WHY WASN’T THERE A LINE PUT IN FIRST DAY?”
Service issues and bad connections extend to other areas in Lios Ard also, as the resident noted that some locals cannot get Sky installed because of the location of some trees in the area.
Mobile phone reception is also affected, with no proper mobile reception available inside her home.
“I have to go outside and sit on my windowsill to get reception. If I go inside I can’t get reception. I have to stand outside my front door. There’s no such thing as private conversations here,” the individual said.
Having contacted telecommunications companies in the past regarding the connection issues, the resident stated that she is still waiting on an answer as to when a line may be installed in her home.
“We need a line put in. There are at least nine houses here in Lios Ard waiting on broadband but nobody is doing anything about it. Why wasn’t there a line put in first day?” the resident questioned.
‘GREAT NEWS!’
When queried, a spokesperson for eir noted that Eircode finder searches can be conducted online via the open eir broadband checker. Through this search, FFTC (‘fiber to the cabinet’) speeds are available on homes in the area.
The spokesperson highlighted that some addresses at Lios Ard, Ballyhooly show speeds of up to 100Mbps. However, The Avondhu found that when other addresses in Lios Ard are searched online, a notice appears reading: ‘Great News! We can presently provide our Fibre to the Cabinet service to this premises with speeds of up to 100Mbps’.
Responsibility for providing a ‘ line’ connection in an area is understood to depend on location, therefore, depending on the specific location, either eir or National Broadband Ireland (NBI) could be responsible for providing this service.