Storm leaves 10,000 Eircom customers without broadband or phone services

15 Jan 2015

Storm Rachel’s violent tirade across Ireland overnight has left as many as 10,000 Eircom customers without fixed-line phone and broadband services, the operator said.

The storm, which lashed the country with high winds, heavy rain and lightning, was particularly intense across the western seaboard.

“We have over 1,000 staff working throughout the country, but some field staff activities have been restricted in exposed areas for health and safety reasons due to high winds,” an Eircom spokesman said.

“Yesterday, Eircom restored service to approximately 2,000 customers.”

The operator said there are currently 45 mobile sites off-air in Donegal, Sligo and Galway due to power outages.

“In addition to using secondary power supplies, such as generators and backup battery systems, we are co-ordinating closely with the ESB to ensure that in cases where power supply is impacting service, telecommunications services can be restored as quickly as possible.”

Eircom said affected customers should log faults on the Log a Fault section of Eircom’s website or through its automated service line 1901.

Storm image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com