donal's blog

So looks like UPC have been found not complying with Regulation 17(4) and Regulation 17(5) of the Universal Service Regulations. The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) have notified them of this non-compliance this week so we have to wait and see what happens... It is unclear from ComReg's notification if it was the price increases on 04 Jan 2011 or the changes to terms and conditions that have resulted in UPC's non-compliance. It's worth noting that the media have been reporting that it is related to the price increases but there is evidence that UPC have been changing their T&Cs on their website without notifying customers for some time too. :/ The regulations in question are: An undertaking referred to in paragraph (1) or a provider of electronic communications services referred to in paragraph (3) shall, not less than one month prior to the date of implementation of any proposed modification, notify its subscribers to that service — of the pr...

A report from the European Commission in October indicates that Irish youth have the lowest interest in Science & Technology news compared to other Europeans... The level of interest in science and technology news was the highest in Portugal and Greece – with 86% and 85%, respectively, of respondents who said these topics appealed to them. These two countries showed the smallest difference between the level of interest in science and technology news compared to news items about culture and entertainment. Interest in the former, on the other hand, was the lowest in Ireland and the Netherlands – with only a slim majority of respondents showing interest in these scientific topics (53% and 54%, respectively). Full link: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_239_sum_en.pdf