Regulator urges Smart phone customers to switch


26 Oct 2006

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has issued a notice to Smart Telecom’s voice-only telephony customers of the “urgent need” to change service provider in order to avoid a loss of service.

Despite a consumer information campaign that has been under way since the beginning of the month, ComReg said today it was concerned that 13,000 of Smart Telecom’s voice-only customers have not made arrangements to get their service from another provider. Smart broadband customers are not affected by these developments, the regulator added.

“All previous customers of Smart Telecom voice-only telephony service have, over the past three weeks, been provided with a temporary service which will be withdrawn shortly,” said ComReg in a statement. From today, Smart phone customers will only be able to make outbound calls to local and emergency numbers; they can no longer make national calls over this service.

“Those customers who have not acted already must do so now to avoid disconnection. They must sign up with a new service provider by Thursday, 2 November. If those customers do not act now, their phone service will be cut off after 2 November,” said ComReg. If they use broadband from a supplier other than Smart, this will also be disconnected unless they have a new voice service in place.

Customers will need to provide their Universal Account Number (UAN) to a new provider in order to sign up for service. This can be found on customers’ last Smart Telecom telephone bill. If Smart Telecom voice-only customers do not have the UAN, they can look it up on www.askcomreg.ie, which also lists alternative service providers. Pricing comparisons for calls and broadband services can be checked at www.callcosts.ie.

In a separate development, close to 30 creditors attended the inaugural Smart Creditors Action Group meeting in Dublin today. The private meeting, for creditors only, was chaired by the business advisor Martin Ferris of Ferris & Associates. The Smart Creditors Action Group took the decision to hold another meeting following the forthcoming Smart Telecom EGM which takes place on next Tuesday 31 October.

By Gordon Smith