[CLUG] [OT] Chorus Digital

[Adam Beecher]

I've taken a back seat on this one for a couple of days to make sure I get my
facts and thoughts right, because I've been accused of a pro-Genesis bias in the
past. Which is of course true, because having met the lads involved, I believe
they'll provide a pretty good service. That said, they'll have to prove it... :)

> Isnt this infinitly more than Genesis (who you work for) are offering?
> Genesis had a delivery of November which has since been delayed!!
>
Better to delay the launch and release a proper product than push one that isn't
ready in the consumers face, because you need to start covering the money spent
on your  "infrastructure"?

> From what I gathered from talking to Chorus, who I might add are a lot
> more forcoming with information than others (namely Genesis),
>
True, true. But is it accurate information? Chorus would appear to be pretty
much like Formus, pushing their products out there in the media, although they
genuinely have very little to offer.

> explained to me by a Chorus Rep, for a small additional fee, you can
> avail of an extra package called PowerNet whish "Requires a Personal
> Computer with a Network Card".
>
No you can't, or at least you couldn't the last time I looked. They might ramble
on about it ad nauseum on their website, but as far as I'm aware it hasn't been
launched yet.

> I look forward to your comments on this and I would dearly love for you
> to prove to me that (genuinley) signing for Chorus is a bad thing.
>
I have to say that we have years of experience of the service level "Chorus" and
their predecessors, Irish Multichannel and Cork Multichannel, have offered us. I
believe I am safe in saying that not a month has gone by in all the time we've
had De Cable piped into our house that there hasn't been a problem with it.
Every single month there's outages and problems with channels. I've said this a
hundred times - De Multi still can't supply us with a decent service level on
their original product, and I think expecting it on new products and services is
simply too much to ask. I'll take their promises and bumph with a pinch of salt.
I've talked to their sales and support reps, and even with my limited knowledge
of their products and services, it's obvious to me that half the time they're
talking out of their hat.

> My disclaimer is that I have no preference as to who supplies my
> T.V/Internet connection once it is better than my Modem/MMDS connection.
> I really couldnt care who it is once it is at the right price and the
> service is worth the money, above all else I have someone who is trying
> to sell to me a product that actually exists.
>
Yes, but does it exist?

> From what I gather you are a member of the technical staff there
> (Genesis) and you would not be in a position to divulge 'Sensitive
> Internal Company Information', so once again I throw the gauntlet down to
> you and ask again prove to us what you offer.
>
Well, you mention "sensitive internal company information" yourself, so you're
probably only too aware that any and all tech companies now make their employees
and directors sign non-disclosure agreements by default. I imagine that even if
Ronan did want to divulge this information, he wouldn't be able to. He wouldn't
even be able to tell you an NDA existed. Such is the Noughties.

> (BTW. Eircom XDSL should be in full swing nationwide by Q3 2001)
>
Define "full swing"? Eircon are telling people who enquire, inluding the meeja,
that DSL services will be rolled out "in six to eight weeks". They've been using
that exact line for, ummm, six to eight weeks. In reality, in my opinion from
the limited information made available to me, I think it will be February when
DSL rollout begins, but we still don't know if it will be targteted towards
consumers or the businesses. "Full swing" is another matter entirely though. BT
have been rolling DSL out for an age, and they're far from "full swing".

adam