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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

SmartCom / Eircom - Cutting the Ribbon

45k Irish telco users felt the pain of relying on a financially challenged CPS provider yesterday when Eircom cut service because of non-payment of €4m by Smartcom.

A member of the Fine Gael made perhaps the most ridiculous suggestion when he suggested Eircom should be forced to notify ComReg, the Irish Regulator, one month before disconnecting any re-sellers and thereby allowing the customers to make alternative arrangements. Can you imagine the stampede for the exit door if ever ComReg ever made such a notification? Almost certainly such a notification would force the reseller into bankruptcy.

The whole episode and similar bankruptcies in the UK Broadband space show the importance of selecting financially viable suppliers for critical telecommunications services.