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Broadband in rural Ireland 'If I disconnect, I don't get paid - I fear for my job'

“I feel like the people of rural Ireland have been let down, with broken promise after broken promise.”

MY JOB DEPENDS on me being connected to a high speed broadband for 8.5 hours every day, five days a week.

I live on the Roscommon/Galway border and my broadband speeds are not fast enough. I genuinely fear for my job.

I was really disappointed when I heard that Eir quit the State’s broadband plan. I work for a large e-commerce business and I need to stay connected the whole time during my shift. As it stands, my connection drops multiple times every single day. Eir was my last hope.

I’m sure my employer will pull me up any day now to explain the gaps in my availability. I have meetings with my managers over Skype video calls, and my ‘broadband’ cannot keep up. I have another one next week and I’m dreading it.

I’m at my wits end, I left my other job to do this one, and now I fear I will be let go because of my broadband. It’s an awful thing to fear losing your job all because you live in the country.

‘If I disconnect, I don’t get paid’

I started working from home in November because I wanted a better work/life balance. I had a long commute and when I saw the job advertised I felt like it was something I would be well able to do, with the perks of no commute, more time spent at home, less money spent on petrol (my bill was pretty big at the time), and the hours were a lot better than what I had at the time.

Previous to this, the extent of my internet use was having it on my phone, tablet, laptop and TV. I’m an avid Netflix fan, and yes sometimes the movie might pause due to the internet being so slow, but I had hoped it wouldn’t become an issue.

Once I accepted the job, it was too late to back out on a worry. I just hoped it would be able to keep up with what I needed it to do.

I contacted my provider and they reassured me that I was getting high speeds and it would be fine, but I feel they told untruths, because it’s not actually fine.

I was expecting things to improve soon. There was plenty of talk about the upgrades. Eir had mentioned where I live, people in the area had spoken about it.

I really felt like it was around the next corner almost. It was such a blow when I found out Eir was pulling out.

It has a huge impact on my work. If I disconnect, I don’t get paid.

Also, my employer knows if I disconnect, as it is all tracked. If I disconnect, I can’t use the tools necessary to do my job, speak to my colleagues or contact my customers.

‘Rural people are forgotten about’

I have spoken of my fears to some of my close family and friends, and they are all worried for me.

I’m very sad and fearful, it’s horrible. I feel like the people of rural Ireland have been let down, with broken promise after broken promise.

To be honest, I have no idea what the future holds for me now. I’m just not sure if it is a sustainable thing for me, given the issues I already experience.

I feel like my employer will come to the end of their tether too – who will crack first? Me, and leave? Or them, letting me go because I’m not fulfilling my contract.

I wouldn’t be able to afford to move, I also like where I live – is that what it comes down to? Having to move because in this day and age, we cannot be serviced by basic needs?

Ireland really is in the dark ages, and rural Ireland even further behind that. No transportation links, no garda stations, terrible roads, no broadband. All because of where you live. Rural people are forgotten about, because we obviously don’t matter.

Read: Rural broadband: Compensation for homeowners as new law to give access to private land>

Read: Why did Eir quit the State’s broadband plan, and what now for rural Ireland?>

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    Mute John
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    Nov 25th 2018, 5:42 PM

    Why don’t the Gardaí have this capability rather than a volunteer organisation?

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    Mute Kinsaleable
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    Nov 25th 2018, 5:46 PM

    @John: they tried but someone mentioned GDPR and data protection.

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    Mute Link
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    Nov 25th 2018, 8:51 PM

    @John: During a missing person search, you’d be surprised how much is outsourced to voluntary organisations. Mainly due to the fact that they’re very labour intensive and it keeps Gardai free for their frontline roles, also the infrastructure that CD in particular have is top notch and allows for seamless intra-organisation communication.

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    Mute Roger Camp
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    Nov 27th 2018, 7:48 PM

    @John: cos theyre too dim to pilot somoethig. Like these high powered things

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    Mute Liam Carlin
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    Nov 25th 2018, 6:19 PM

    You need a drone license?

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    Mute Vocal Outrage
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    Nov 25th 2018, 6:50 PM

    @Liam Carlin: yes, unless you are operating a drone of less than 1kg in Uncontrolled Airspace, below 400ft, in visual flight rules, line of sight, but not further than 300m away, and not over or within 30m of people or vehicles and within a flight area you can control, nor over urban areas. For everything else you need a license, its actualkt quite strict but many flout the rules.
    check out https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones/drone-regulations-guidance

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    Mute John P
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    Nov 26th 2018, 11:21 AM

    @Vocal Outrage: where’s a good place to do training?

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    Mute Alan Conroy
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    Nov 25th 2018, 11:51 PM

    Paul Kehoe isn’t the defence minister, Leo is. Paul is a junior minister, very very junior.

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    Mute Chief
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    Nov 25th 2018, 6:12 PM

    Couple of questions for ye folks.

    1. What’s the flight time on that type of drone?

    2. Anyone know the make & model of the car/jeep in the background?

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    Mute Shane Halpin
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    Nov 25th 2018, 6:17 PM

    @Chief: the 4×4 is a land rover discovery, the drones we use are DJI inspire, Yuneec typhoon and DJI matrice drones, so all spec can be found on their websites

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    Mute Chief
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    Nov 25th 2018, 6:54 PM

    @Shane Halpin: thanks Shane. Reason I asked about the land rover was I did a reverse image search on the drone picture and Google came back with ford escape hybrid as the result. Though it was impressive seen as the image only shows a vehicle wheel. On the drones,, I had a phantom 1, 3 and 4 myself for a while max flight time about 24 minutes, looks like that one in the image after I looked it up does around 37.

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    Mute John Carolan
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    Nov 25th 2018, 7:14 PM

    @Chief: I’m guessing google picked up the outline of the landrover badge, it’s the same shape as the ford badge…

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    Mute Daniel Donovan
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    Nov 26th 2018, 6:47 PM

    Another way to spy on us stupid sheep.

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