Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2013
445. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his response to correspondence (details supplied) regarding broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25249/13]
View answerThe broadband service contracted under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) was designed as a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme. Under the terms of the contract which my Department has in place with “3”, the NBS service provider, the NBS mobile wireless service is required to offer minimum download and upload speeds of 2.3 Mbps and 1.4 Mbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 18:1. The NBS satellite service, which is utilised in a small number of cases for technical reasons associated with the location of the premises, offers minimum download and upload speeds of 3.6 Mbps and 384 kbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 48:1.
As regards service quality, my Department has well-established monitoring arrangements in place to ensure that the NBS delivers the minimum specified service or better to all users. The NBS contract guarantees service levels and imposes a service credit regime on “3”, with significant financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. The NBS contract also provides that where NBS customers do not receive the minimum guaranteed service, as set out in the terms and conditions of their contract, they are entitled to service rebates. Should any NBS customer experience problems with the NBS service, they are advised to contact “3”’s customer care centre, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, by phone at 1913 (free of charge), via email to nbssupport@three.ie or by post to 3 Customer Services, Hutchison 3G Ireland Limited, PO Box 333, Dublin 2. I note that the customer in question had contacted the customer care centre, but was not satisfied with the response received.
My Department has a role where customers have fully utilised the established complaints process and consider that their complaint has not been resolved. My officials operate a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at nationalbroadbandscheme@dcenr.gov.ie, with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service. My Department will then liaise with “3” personnel at its Head Office in Dublin to remedy any service performance issues.
In this instance, my officials had, directly upon receipt of the correspondence from the person referred to in the Question contacted this NBS customer on Thursday, 9th May last. The details of the complaint were forwarded to “3” who arranged for an engineer to visit the premises. “3” have confirmed that, following the visit by the engineer, the NBS service provided is now within the contracted specification and that a rebate for three months, in relation to the time taken to resolve the complaint, has been applied to their account.
The NBS customer in question has informed my officials that they are satisfied to close the complaint. The customer has been advised to contact my officials directly should they experience any further difficulties.
