Eircom on major broadband offensive


16 Sep 2003

Eircom has introduced a new broadband promotion that will see home and business users be offered broadband with free connection, free modem and one month’s free rental for those that sign up for a year. The incumbent market player also claims that there are now 850,000 telephone lines in Ireland that are broadband enabled.

With the new promotion, which starts on 6 October and ends on 6 January next year, Eircom Retail’s managing director Cathal Magee, said: “What we need to do now is drive the take-up of broadband with our customers. We are doing this by combining the launch of this promotion with a major marketing and advertising campaign highlighting to people how broadband, whether it is in the home or at work, can change the way we live and work.”

The residential offering relates specifically to Eircom’s self-install broadband product and comes hot on the heels of aggressive offerings from Esat BT and UTV Internet.

In figures released yesterday, UTV Internet said its internet revenues jumped by 70pc to £1.6m, with the company saying there had been a strong response in the Republic to its flat-rate products. The company said that profits more than trebled to £500k.

Eircom has said that it is also running a second promotion aimed specifically at small to medium-sized enterprises, which relates to its technician-installed broadband product. The deal includes €10 off the rental price for 12 months, which works out at €35 per month with a free modem, and a connection charge of €165 ex VAT.

By John Kennedy