thomas fitzgerald.net

When the iPhone launched in Ireland a few weeks ago it launched with some of the most limited options available to iPhone customers anywhere, with allocated minutes a fraction of what’s available in the UK for example. Perhaps the most obvious limitations though are the lack of visual voice mail and the 1 gig data limit. It is the later that has become a cause for concern.

Unlike the UK, the US, Germany and France, the iPhone tariffs offered by O2 do not come with an unlimited data plan. Instead customers get 1GB of data per month and are charged by the megabyte once they go over that limit. On a traditional mobile device 1GB may sound enormous, and the company claimed that 1GB of data was far more than most people would ever need. This may be true, but unlike traditional data capable cellphones, the iPhone has a full browser, and downloads full websites. In addition, Google Maps, YouTube and widgets all consume data. Having said that, you are probably unlikely to go over the limit unless you are a heavy surfer and not using wifi. Still, it is undoubtedly prudent to keep an eye on your data usage so you don’t get caught with a huge bill. And this is where the problem lies.

The iPhone keeps a track of the data sent over Edge. The function is in the settings panel under “usage”. I have had my iPhone now for about three weeks. The Edge usage stats on the iPhone are telling me that I have downloaded 26.3MB and I have uploaded 4.9MB. Obviously no where near the limit. However, if I check my bill online, where I can see how much data I have left it is telling me that I have used 58MB. That’s a pretty big discrepancy. As it is my first month you would expect the iPhone’s stats to mach my providers, but they are claiming that I used almost twice as much data as my phone is telling me that I used.

I could understand if they were a meg or two out but not that much. What’s more, because the online bill is itemized and lists individual data sessions, I have noticed some peculiar entries. On one such session, the online bill claims I downloaded 20MB. However I know what I was doing at the time and I was only browsing a mostly text based site. There is certainly no way I downloaded 20MB, unless my phone was doing something in the background, but I doubt it because that is the only single entry on the bill that large. Everything else is around the 1 MB mark. I don’t know just what is going on here but either way let me make this absolutely clear, you can not trust the usage counter on the iPhone. While this doesn’t matter to iPhone users in other countries where the iPhone is available, because of the limit it could affect you here. Regardless of what is causing the discrepancy, whether the network is measuring the data incorrectly or the iPhone is doing something strage, check your bills, don’t trust the phone, because it’s what O2 has recorded for data usage that they are going to bill you on.

Incidentally I did contact O2 customer support about this and they pretty much fobbed me off with a blanket statement claiming that the phone may not be accurate and reminding me that mail, maps and widgets all use data. Thanks for stating the obvious. They did not explain the mysterious 20MB of data. I’ve also had reports that similar problems have occurred using unlocked phones on other networks. If you are living in Ireland and have an iPhone or know someone who has an iPhone please check your bill and do not assume the phone is telling you how much data is being used. If you see anything suspicious on your bill, pursue it with customer service. Even if you are no where near your limit, you could be some day and if they are going to charge you for excess data by the MB then you need to be able to accurately measure the data usage.

From RTÉ News:

Mobile company O2 says it has no plans to reduce the price consumers pay to buy an Apple iPhone here.

The UK arm of the company has announced that it is reducing the price of the 8gb model of the phone by £100 until 1 June.

The reduction means that, with current exchange rates, the phone now costs €209 in Northern Ireland and €399 in the Republic

[Read RTÉ News: O2 Ireland not planning iPhone price cut]

This really shouldn’t come as a shock to people. Mobile networks in Ireland have been fleecing people for years, why people are expecting it to be ay different with the iPhone is beyond me, although it does bring the issue of said fleecing into the wider public consciousness. Actually, the iPhone pricing in Ireland may be the least of the problems with the way O2 is dealing with the apple handset in this country. The tariffs and paltry 1Gig data limit are far more annoying than the price of the phone.

From Pocket Lint:

O2 has confirmed that following it’s launch of the iPhone in the UK, it will be the exclusive carrier for Apple’s mobile phone in Ireland.

It’s about time! Rates sound reasonable too:

“Three new iPhone tariffs will be available from O2, starting at €45, all of which will include anytime minutes, texts and a 1GB data bundle.”

Here’s hoping it’s true!

[Read iPhone to launch in Ireland]

Tonight at midnight marks a pivotal moment in the history of Ireland. At midnight tonight the official British Military Operation in Northern Ireland ends. Congratulations to all those who worked hard on all sides of the community to bring about this momentous occasion. I hope this moment can be an inspiration to other countries around the world as to what can be achieved if you give peace a chance.

Story

HDTV UK: Ireland airs its first HD broadcast on terrestrial TV:

While the game might not have been a classic, last Sunday’s Leinster Football final in Dublin was a momentous occasion in the history of Ireland’s HDTV evolution – the game was the first Irish terrestrial broadcast to be shown in high-definition.

HDTV is available via satellite in Ireland but this game marked the first time an HDTV broadcast was transmitted from a digital terrestrial network in Ireland. And, from today, a selection of HDTV programming will be available on a trial using the digital terrestrial TV network in preparation for the eventual analogue to digital switchover.

If anyone knows any more about this please let me know

If there’s one thing that annoys the life out of me it’s the complete and utter lack of technological motivation in this country when it comes to the communication infrastructure. For years consumers had to do battle to overcome the monopolistic tendencies of the main telecoms provider in order to get them to provide a semi decent broadband service at a reasonable price. And while provisions are still patchy and we certainly still lag behind the rest of Europe, at least broadband is much more widely available now.

But there is an equal lack of Wifi in the capital city. Wifi coverage is patchy at best and provided by a cacophony of competing providers with prices that are not particularly inviting. What’s worse though is that virtually none of the main cafes and restaurants on the main shopping thoroughfares have Wifi. When you see the recent announcements regarding Google and Wifi in San Francisco you have to wonder why a relatively small city like Dublin couldn’t have blanket coverage without costing the earth.

Wifi is the future, at least for now, and it would be nice if just for once Ireland were on the cutting edge rather than playing catch up.

I was walking up Grafton Street on sunday about to go into marks and spensers to do my shopping when I realised the doors were all closed and an alarm was going off. Next thing I know there were sirens wailing from behind me and the fire brigade came rushing up! I managed to catch the excitement on my camera phone, and here’s the footage. (click on the pic for movie)

They left pretty quickly, so I guess it wasn’t that serious.

Looks like the Bank of Ireland Strike went off as planned. I guess no one will be banking today! Well, they certainly picked a good day weather wise!

Xmas Decorations, originally uploaded by fxgeek.

I guess it was only a matter fo time. The Christmas Decorations in Dublin are starting to go up. They’re nice if a little old fashioned. Still, I guess that’s what tourists expect. I find Brown Thomas’s non Christmas, Christmas Window a little odd though! (Will try and snap a shot of it at night during the week) (for those who don’t know - Brown Thomas is the Irish equivelent of Bloomingdales)

I was sitting at home the other night, cup of tea in one hand remote in the other looking forward to a night of hilarity with Jon Stewart’s Daily Show and the “Mid Term Mid-Tacular” on more4, when seconds after the programme started, the screen shutters and goes black. NTL’s digital service in Dublin is flaky at the best of times so I figured it would be back on shortly. 2 minutes later and there was still nothing. So I switched channels, and they were all black. Then I checked the analogue service and that was down too.

“Dammit”, I thought, “must be a cable fault”

So I searched for my bill to find the customer support service number and gave them a call. Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “he must have had a bad experience with some technician over the phone”, or “they were rude to him, that’s why he’s writing”

Nope.

It seems NTL has no technical support after 8pm. I was greeted by a nice if somewhat blunt voice telling me that office hours were from 8am to 8pm.

What the hell? So, let me get this straight, after 8pm, when most people are watching television, and most faults are likely to occur because of the increased drain on the system, that’s when you all decide to go home. What kind of crap is that?

In any other modern western country you’d use your power as a consumer to switch to a service that didn’t frankly suck, but in Dublin your only choice is NTL if you live in the city centre or in rented accommodation. I’m not allowed put up a dish for sky and forget about getting analogue transmission. So you’re left with a sub standard service that cares absolutely nothing about their customers.

This isn’t my first run in with NTL either. When I was getting the service installed in the first place I had to take time off work to let the technician in, only to get a call 15 minutes before he was to arrive to check that I had arranged to have the locker where the cables were open with the management company. This was the first I had heard about this. You would think that it technically being NTL’s property they would have their own keys, but no. The technician, not too politely told me I’d have to arrange another time.

So I rang up their customer support staff only to be treated even worse by a nasty woman who proceeded to treat me like she was doing me a favour even talking to me. She then proceeded to blame me for not knowing something they had failed to tell me about. I tried to get across the point that how was I supposed to ask about something I didn’t even know I needed to know. Of course, knowing full well I had no other choice I was derided and basically told, well if you want your service you can either like it or lump it.

How in this day and age any company can get away with the way NTL carries on is beyond me. The government really need to open up competition seriously in the Dublin area and deal with this problem once and for all.

Oh, and the quality of the digital service is appalling.
(Just though I’d throw that in there!)

I ended up emailing them, but was without services until the following morning. I finally got a response to my email a day later to tell me that there were problems in my area and a technician was being dispatched to investigate the problem. 12 hours after by brutal TV service was restored.

I had actually completely forgotten this was on, but just happened to be out and about with my camera and happened to catch it. I had the wrong lens and a not too great vantage point, so they aren’t exactly spectacular, but anyway!

Autumn By the Canal, originally uploaded by fxgeek.

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