When will this NBS fantasy end?

When will this NBS fantasy end?

Consumer lobby group IrelandOffline today slammed the Government’s broadband policies saying they’re insufficient to keep Ireland competitive. The reliance on the failed National Broadband Scheme, while a charming name, is simply not meeting the basic requirements of “broadband for all”.

Below are the basic specifications of the scheme, as outlined by the Department. Few customers, if any, actually receive the specified speeds, these minimum requirements are in fact almost impossible to deliver using 3G technologies.

The only reason the government is cheer leading on this subject is so they can include these figures from sub-standard midband products in a vain attempt to make Ireland Inc. look better in the broadband rankings.Once the midband subscribers are removed from the figures the real broadband picture emerges. Hundreds of rural subscribers have to endure this fantasy provisioning of broadband and we get hundreds of requests for help with this situation.

Commenting on these results Eamonn Wallace Chairperson of IrelandOffline said:

“What sanctions will be taken by the Minister now that it can clearly be demonstrated that the NBS will not meet it’s minimum requirements?”

What speeds can subscribers expect at launch? [Original requirements as specified]

Wireless Mobile (I-HSPA) Min (at cell edge) Max (at cell centre)
Download Speed 1.2Mbps 5Mbps
Upload Speed 200kbps 1.8Mbps

Maximum contention ratio of 36:1
Round-trip latency: 120ms
Satellite Min Max
Download Speed 1Mbps 1Mbps
Upload Speed 128kbps 128kbps

Maximum contention ratio of 48:1
Round-trip latency: 800ms

Monthly Traffic Cap

These are the data caps as outlined by the Department:

“An uncharged monthly data cap of 15GB (12GB download and 3GB upload) will apply for the wireless product while 11GB (10GB download and 1GB upload) will be available for satellite users.”

These should be enforced from a contractual perspective and adhered to and if the provider does not meet them then sanctions should be applied.

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2 Responses

  1. Michael Lynch says:

    Hi, I Signed up the the NBS 3 weeks ago (Mid Sept 2010)and results are excellent. 3-4mb down. 1 – 1.5mb up (speedtest.net) every day. Pingtest – B or C with mos score 4 – 4.3. Can use skype etc. I am a rural customer about 1K from the transmitter in County Carlow. Have survived using Ripplecom wirelss service for last two years. Extremely intermittent and very slow. could not use VOIP services.
    I know this is no next gen broadband but it is a hundred times better than I had. – Hope it lasts…

    Michael

  2. Marion says:

    If 3 doesn’t provide the speeds specified in the contract, can you use it to get out of a contract???
    My father was sold 25BG contract but it didn’t last the month!! He wants out ASAP

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