Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 March 2014
231. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if an early termination fee in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry who had a verbal agreement with the broadband provider to waive this fee in view of the regular difficulties experienced by the person with the service and the provider, will be waived; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10502/14]
View answerThe broadband service contracted under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is 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 currently offers minimum download and upload speeds of 2.3Mbps and 1.4Mbps 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 3.6Mbps and 384 kbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 48:1.
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.
My Department liaises very closely with "3" to ensure that any issues relating to service performance which are brought to its attention are addressed as quickly as possible. With reference to service performance issues experienced by the person referred to in the Question, my officials have been advised by "3" that its engineer visited the customer's premises and having replaced a piece of faulty equipment, confirmed the NBS service to be within specification. In addition, 3's engineer offered advice in relation to additional equipment which could help boost the broadband signal to other areas of the house.
Should a customer wish to terminate their NBS contract prior to the expiry of the minimum term, as is standard industry practice, a cancellation fee applies which is equivalent to the total monthly charges due for the balance of the minimum contract term. Such matters are operational matters for "3". My Department officials have been informed by "3" that they were in direct contact with the customer regarding this matter and that they have no record of offering to waive the standard cancellation fee. However, in this particular instance, I understand from "3" that they are amenable to reaching an agreeable solution. My officials will contact the Deputy directly to arrange to progress the matter to conclusion.
