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EIRCOM HAS STEMMED the near-terminal decline in its revenue with growth in the company’s mobile and broadband businesses partially making up for the mass exodus of fixed-line phone customers.
The former state telecoms provider said its revenue for the most-recent quarter was down slightly on the same time last year but the rate of decline “continues to improve”.
The company took in €311 million for the three months while it also continued to trim operating costs - included taking a 17% slice out of its pay bill.
Eircom said it added 18,000 broadband customers in total over the period with 40,000 extra clients joining its high-speed fibre network.
That network had now passed over 1.2 million premises, or over 50% of the country’s total, meaning about 20% of those with access to its fibre offering had signed up for the service.
Revenue from the company’s mobile business was also up 5% to €87 million, 28% of its total income, after it added 9,000 postpaid customers for the quarter.
The bad news
Despite the pick-up in some parts of its trade, Eircom’s total revenue continues to drop as thousands of fixed-line customers ditched the provider each month.
It lost 21,000 clients on retail lines over the past three months and 66,000 compared to the same time in 2014.
The company has also cut about 30% from its staff numbers with full-time equivalent headcount falling from 4,929 to 3,430 for the latest quarter.
Its earnings before deductions were up 8% to €120 million over the past three months, but figures for the same period in 2014 suffered from one-off storm-related costs.
Eircom CEO Richard Moat said the results were “highly encouraging” with the company’s revenues stabilising and its fibre broadband rollout continuing “at pace”.
The company, which was recently rated one of Ireland five least-favourite businesses, also said it had trimmed its number of open complaints from over 1,000 six months ago to less than 150.
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Half a mb in a village in North Kerry on fixed line broadband. Eircom and Vodafone are both talking through their hoops!
Ya, my in laws are paying 50 a month for NRG. Yet they get a 3Mb line. But in reality, they get a 1Mb line. Paying for a >8Mb line. Rang on their behalf and explained the connection. They tested the line and said that it could only support 3Mb. But no offer to reduce the monthly cost.
They never signed up to NRG but we’re put on it and their bill was increased.
If you look at eircom map it will tell you I can get fiber broadband where I live. The wires going past my driveway are as old as the hills with the wires holding up the poles at some points along the road. If this is what they’re classified as fibre it nothing short of down right lies.
There are places in rural England where local people have got themselves together and through charitable donations and working for free have been able to lay down their own fibre optic cables to increase their speeds.
Qwerty. That sound like a good idea. We have fairly good broadband through vodafone 4g and another independent company. All wireless. However it makes me question eircom claim of 50% coverage when they claim I’m covered while clearly I’m not.
If your 2km or more away from exchange then forget it fiber to exchange will do nothing for you.
Eircom will say you’re in fiber area but your not. Big towns and cities will be ok but if you live in countyside forget it your only hope is 4g. Now if your with 3 and you have unlimited data and in 4g area your sorted
I’d actually go back to buying newspapers made from trees before I’d ever take a contract with Eircom no matter how fast or cheap the internet speeds on offer are. Undoubtedly one of the worst run companies imaginable.
Fully agree i tried to get set up with a bundle a few weeks ago. They forgot to call out twice after us waiting in all day on both occasions when we rang on numerous times for updates they couldn’t find us on their systems even though we had account numbers. Rang complaints and were told nobody there to take complaints. I emailed them told them to cancel the lot.
Eddie, sounds like you had perfectly valid complaints, took your complaints through all the appropriate channels, and were probably lucky to have cancelled it before it was actually installed. You might still need a solicitor though, Eircom seem to have a PR policy that involves badgering little old ladies through the courts over the most minor of issues.
They couldn’t even put poles up on the right side of a road for. Clowns then wanted me to dig the road up for them. Told them to stick it
We were asked, after all these years, if we had just moved in as they had no record of us! We protested strongly for a few of us are just in between two areas for them. I was told I had been initially placed on the wrong one and all would have to be changed!
Another time I was told I had the wrong, the old and out of date put in BY MISTAKE and it had to be changed and there was more waiting.
Another time I was told a day to be cut off ask I could make arrangements as I am disabled lusting and it was very cold. It went off the wrong day and I was having candles and hot water bottles from a small camping stove I have for this purpose.
The picture varies around the country I am sure, but you get the idea.
Great if you live on the greater populated areas. Not if you are a long standing customer 5 miles from the city. More 5hite talk about broadband access from their spin doctors.
You could build your own satellite broadband substation with the €100-200k you saved buying a house 5-10miles away from the nearest major populated area….
Up next more complaining on why the government won’t subsidize public transport to your door.
Aren’t the ESB or whatever they’re called testing high speed over their networks in rural Mayo at the moment ? If that’s rolled out nationwide over the next five years I don’t think anyone will need to bother with Eircom.
Why Mayo…?
Eircom are testing fiber to the home in rural mayo 1gb
Sorry 4ss hole you have no idea of my life style. So back to your 2up 2down and play with some lego, I will send on the instructions to you.
I’d rather go back to dial up than have to deal with their atrocious customer service!
Have you tried it recently? It’s decent now (for Web pages anyway) since most are not using it.
Eircom had a monopoly for years and they abused it. Even the ‘rental’ on landline phones was outrageous. I would not have any dealings with Eircom under any circumstances.
Joke of a company, they took over €800 from my account mistakenly when I paid my bill. I went through hell, hours of phone calls to different departments, on hold for 40 mins at a time. Eventually got the money back a in two separate sums. I wrote a letter of complaint to two of the directors and didn’t even get the decency of a response. The incompetent company I have ever dealt with. Not one person in there has the balls to stand up and sort out the problems, no accountability, the usual !
Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhh!!!! Stop that auld talk about broadband I’ve heard it all before!! Here I am struggling with 500 kbits to download work emails this morning it’s driving me mad!!. Rolling out broadband over and over again, the market is so disjointed and patchy now that I think it’s too late for broadband by wire is just too difficult to achieve. Time for tay I think. Ah I feel better now! Thanks journal.
How was the tay?
The absolute horror of having to ring this shower when something goes wrong, which is about every 3 months! We’re on our 3rd bloody modem and we’re only with 9 months! Their customer service is a joke! I feel like I’m speaking a different language, well I am really as I haven’t a clue which country their customer service is actually based. Just setting up the business was something that nearly drove me to drink, it was like a game of pass the parcel whenever I called and they never call you back which means everytime I rang I spoke to a different person who didn’t have a clue what I was on about!!!!
When you consider the model of Rural Electrification of Ireland and the model now being used to roll out broadband in Ireland you really begin to despair . Both were difficult expensive and vitally important so really I have little sympathy for Eircom…they have milked this too long!
Customer service is the worst I have come across and all their routers are sh!te and not fit for purpose.
Eircom have what can only be described as the worst customer service in the history of companies that provide customer service. Ringing them is like ringing a government department. Like you’ve interrupted them. And if you have a line fault? You are $hit out of luck. 3 days to fix IF you’re lucky.
I was promised 8mb speed, got 3mb told the idiots to up the speed on there end, now I have 4mb.. joke. In the same area, 4g mobile speeds of up to 40mb. Me thinks I’ll be moving to a 4g mobile dongle account soon. Crappy eircom.
The area where my parents live has had 3 different fibre roll out dates in the last 3 months. The customer service from Eircom is probably the worst that I have ever come across. We deal with Sky who actually answer the phone and get things done. Any problems that we have had are because the wholesale service that Sky use is ultimately provided by Eircom. It’s easy for them to day that they have passed 1.2 million premises because they are nearly all in the cities and towns. The moment you go outside the speed limit signs you are also hitting the broadband speed limit as well.
Try UPC if you want bad customer service. The only way to talk to anyone is to ring sale. Tell them your leaving.
Waste of time. They’ll reply saying “If you say so”. You have to tell them ‘You’re leaving.’ That’ll get their attention.
I was with eircom a few years ago never again will I sign up to that shower,never mind the annoying sales reps they have going from door to door every month what a cra
Don’t know how their in a slide . They are sending out monthly bills now and it’s working out dearer than two monthly bills . I feel we are being robed with this system . The bills are so confusing not as much explanation as the two monthly ones . I’m sick of this bloody company . Does any one know who owns it now
Eircom = Joke
Sh*t customer service
Eircom are without a doubt the worst company I have ever dealt with. Was waiting 6 months for them to install a new phone line before I told them to forget it. Customer Care a complete joke.
The reality is that eircom has been a cash cow since it was first floated on the stock exchange , it’s been sold on and on with very little investment in infrastructure , only now when mobile broadband technology is out pacing it do they spend money on fibre optics , there is a massive rural customer base champing at the bit for half decent broadband .
If you had 3 monkeys in a box with a mobile phone they would provide better customer service than all the never ending departments in Eircom’s customer service. Wait, what customer service ?
I have 98MB speed, thanks eircom
I’m on 114.
Thanks Vodafone, for providing it at a lower cost than eircom.
No you don’t. You may have 98Mb, but not 98MB.
He might if he has the 1 Gbps line they offer to some customers. Them and Magnet are trialling it at the moment.
But Damn… 98MB download. That’s what, almost 800Mbps? We might see it in our lifetimes :)
Selling Broadband is about the only business where you can tell people ‘I’ll almost give you the service you paid for for, some of the time’. Extraordinary.
Fiona your famous
What’s this about her famous?
No wonder they’re hemorrhaging customers by the day. Absolutely diabolical service and even worse customer care.
Eircom must be one if not thee worst company in Ireland to do your business with, I am constantly having trouble with them wrong billing or just bad service in general if anyone is thinking of going over to Eircom don’t, bad and all as the other’s are Vodafone etc there not as bad as Eircom trust me
Eircom are a disaster.
Eircom would do well to look at up grading their old customers on to these new fibre service as opposed to just making it available to new customers .
Im fairly sure the fibre optic cabling the woman in the photo is looking at is the same as those ones you get in the pound shop that spin around in circles and change colour. Real fibre optic cables use infra red light and wouldn’t have that much light lost through the edges like the one there.
Who gives a shit its for the benefit of the camera
It’s for “effect”. Real fibre cables only show light shining out of tips.
we have 0.06mb …a house less than 3yards from us just got put it but apparently we cant. and we pay €70 per month . they are a farce and so difficult to deal with .
Question for the tech heads. I have efiber broadband, approx 70 meg download even higher some times. But if 2 devices are trying to stream something there is stalling. Should this be the case?
It’s probably the router. Eircom standard are not good in general.
Advise to change to upc or sky.
Thanks James. UPC isn’t in Ennis and we got rid of sky, saor view etc a few years ago. I’ll suss out the router issue though.
Eircom are playing with words when they sat “fibre network passes 1.2 million homes”
What actually happens is :
Eircom copper network serves customers in towns, cities and villages – average maybe 400 – 600 customers per roadside cabinet. They run a fibre to this cabinet, then claim that this fibre “passes” all customers premises !! (What they should say is that this fibre is now available to SOME customers via copper)
Problem is, if all customers requested the fibre service, it would not be possible as the Max per cabinet is 200 !
Also, any customer more than 2 klm from the cabinet is out of range.
I wish they would not mislead people.
We still can’t get ‘wired’ broadband where I live as eircom won’t connect the already wired local exchange !!!!
Rural folk have no. Other company to use here. We are well serviced or lumbered at different times. We have been most vehemently assured we are to have it but after two years of these assurances…….. It is like most things NOT HERE!
As it is the only service we have left, for some years now, we rely on it utterly and it is of great importance we have it and have it improved. We already pay a lot for it and worry about having to take more cuts (heating and entertainment) if they improve at great cost. Please bear these points in mind as the rurals are really down to the one item now.
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