Key Post Cost of moving telephone or ESB poles

Hi has anyone any idea whats the best way to get eircom to move a telephone pole?

I have tried ringing them (you get passed around for hours with little success). I tried writing in and no joy and I have even had a guy come out to help me and after saying he would see what he could do he fecked off and stopped taking my calls.

Has anyone managed to do this before?

moving a pole

We will have to do this and have been told that you put it in writing to eircom. Once this is done, they (eventually) send out an engineer to survey the site and write a report on what needs to be done. In our case it will be easier to put the cable underground rather than relocate the pole, and cheaper too. Eircom will hire a contractor to shift the pole for a fee of up to a grand. I advise to hassle them one way or another until they give you an answer. Good luck.

I'm going to have to have it done too..

I cant get over the whole idea of you allowing them to place a pole on your land. You're doing them a favour.

And when you want to get it moved to a different location, they charge you 1000 euro to move it.

Has anyone heard of anyone telling Eircom to get the pole off their land, or even threatening to cut the thing down if no action was taken ?

another case for Rip-off Ireland...

You are joking, of course ?

If they don't have a transmission network how do you expect the electricity to get to your house or office ?

Looked at from their point of view - if they have a pole somewhere and it is doing its job and has been for 20 years and someone comes along and asks them to move it, why wouldn't they ask the person to pay for the moving ?

I agree that €1,000 is a lot of money, but moving a pole is presumably not an insignificant task.

z

Zag

I'm kinda joking - About cutting it down anyway. But not about the cost of it.

I'm talking about Eircom Pole, not ESB pole.

I don't take that point of view.
If it's been on the land for 20 year doing it's job, then I've been helping them to maintain their network / Provide their product along a chain.
They should value a long term customer / person who has let them place a pole on their land.

I'm the one doing them the favour - 1000 euro is a joke, it's just another example of robbing people blind. it should be considered an operational expense.

The pole would have to be moved 20 feet. I wouldnt consider that a huge task. I think the key word here is "contractor" - Pay 2x the amount to some cowboy who's probably as much an eircom employee that the perm staff.

He gets a slice, Eircom get a slice - and the innocent consumer gets shafted...

I've been told esb will move a pole for nothing, if getting connected.
I've recently gotton Chorus equipment moved also, they didnt charge, they recognise that your doing them a favour by allowing their equipment to sit on your site.

eircom

Hi,

I can confirm ESB will moves poles for nothing. At the start of my build I had to move an ESB pole and a telephone one. ESB had the pole moved within a couple of weeks without any fuss and free. Its over 2 years later and the telephone pole is still there. I cannot complete the entranceway to my site until its moved.

I was told at the very begining from some engineer that it would cost a few grand to move (This was over the phone, the guy wouldn't bother his This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language coming out for a look and didn't give me a quote when he said he would. The usual "I'll get back to you with a quote".

I sent in my letter to Eircom but I sent it to the complaints dept. Do you know where to send letters requesting a pole to be moved? I would pay the 1000 euro as much as it kills me but I need this thing moved.

Oh I got a visit from an eircom sales person recently trying to woo me back as an eircom customer. I said sure thing if somebody moves that pole and yer wan just went "Oh god, thats nothing to do with me sorry" Couldn't help me in any way.

..

Chop the pole down...then they'd have to move it. Alternatively, send them a registered letter telling them to get their pole off your land or you'll cut it into little blocks and deposit it in the nearest Eircom office block by block.

Re: moving a telephone pole

Don't chop it down, "Accidently" Reverse into it with a JCB,when they come to fix it tell them you want it moved or you are not letting them on your property

eircom and esb poles

Will the ESB really move poles for free? We don't have a pole on our land but theres wires running over it and the other half keeps making noises about wanting the wires buried underground and I just didn't want to get into it i thought it would cost a fortune.

We have an eircom pole out the front of the house but its outside the fence on the supposed 4 metres that we had to have on the side of the road. Theres no way i'd pay to get that moved as i don't even have a landline an dont intend getting one installed anyway

eircom pole

We sent our letter to the nearest main eircom office which seemed to do the trick. The engineer type guy who came out recommended that we buried the cables underground. We would have to get a digger and get a trench dug, then stick some kind of pipe in it in order for eircom to get the cable through from the pole on the road to the house in question. He said it would save us some money and look better in the long run. Probably safer as well.

hi

Hi Murray,

Thats not exaclty what I am after. I already dug a trench for supply to my house. That came off another pole out on the road.

What I want is to get a pole moved about 10Ft along the roadside. Its currently in the middle of what should be my entrace into my site.

Did you address the letter to any particular department in the main office?

Moving ESB pole

Anyone got this done recently..I am being told it could cost up to 1k to move pole which is situated right in center of site.

Re: moving a telephone pole

Some other posts

kerinsp
3145.70 euro to move a telephone pole

After a lot of effort on my part I finally got an invoice off eircom to move a telephone pole about 10 ft. 3145 euro!
labour 247.52
stores 139.74
Purchases/Contracts 2384.82
vat 374.16.

When I got the invoice yesterday I think I was in a state of shock. I could barely think of anything else.

Has anyone had any better luck at this? Would it be worth contacting comreg or the ombudsman about this?

jister
Registered User
shocking

Has the pole been moved yet or is it a quote to do it?

Somebody around here before suggested accidently knocking it over with a track machine - then they will have to come out and fix it anyway - and you can make them move it then.

If it was on my own land I would just cut it down and use a mobile or Chorus phone or whatever.

kerinsp
not moved yet

It was only a quote and written in bold on the invoice they state:

"please also note that the plant in question is and remains property of eircom. we would therefore caution you against attempting to move it without eircoms consent"

I will be changing my line rental over to smart

Unregistered User
not moved yet

> I will be changing my line rental over to smart

By all means move to another telecoms provider if you choose but don't think that you are getting one over on eircom since they still ultimately get the line rental charge even if another telco bills you for it.

kerinsp
Unregistered User
correct

I already am a smart telecom customer. Dont Smart pay a little bit less for rental from Eircom than I would? I know the end charge I pay is the same.

Unregistered User
correct

> Dont Smart pay a little bit less for rental from Eircom than I would?

I didn't think so and assumed that single billing meant that the line rental was remitted in full to eircom by other telcos but maybe they keep some or all of the the margin and just pay eircom the wholesale rate or something like that?

StillMadAsHell
Unregistered User
I'll be in the same boat !!

Can anyone answer this question ------

Can one demand that eircom remove all poles/equipment from ones land ???

JCB Sounds good to me !!
Robbing **************

I know what I'd tell them to do with their caution...
----------------------------------------
On the other point - I'm not 100% but I think eircom gets all rental.
They "own" (questionable) the network, one of the main reasons why single billing was introduced, was for the convenience of the customer not receiving 2 bills.

EvilDoctorK
Frequent poster
Re: 3145.70 euro to move a telephone pole

If you move your line rental to Smart Telecom Eircom do get less money I think.... AFAIK Smart Telecom "buy" the line Rental off Eircom at the wholesale line rental prices which are below the Line Rental price Eircom charge to customers.

Probably more stuff on www.comreg.ie/ if you look

kerinsp
Unregistered User
good luck

After a lot of effort getting an actual eircom pole guy out to check the site out (last March this was) I got the invoice yesterday so good luck.

There was a number of annoying things on it despite the vague breakdown. For instance:

The quote is valid for 30 days
You have to pay in full before its considered
The work will be done when feasible
If the eventual cost is more than the estimate you are liable to pay the extra.

Unregistered User
Re: 3145.70 euro to move a telephone pole

Seems that the wholesale line rental (charged by eircom to other telcos) is or was their retail price less 8.5% - with the longer term wholesale rate possibly still under negotiation - so I guess that eircom do get less if you pay line rental to another telco. Another reason I'm glad I switched to UTV recently!

www.comreg.ie/publications/default.asp?nid=101491&ctype=5


Marion
Moderator
Re: Askcomreg

Comreg has a new website designed for the consumer. It is more user friendly

[broken link removed]

Marion

FruitDog
Unregistered User

"Purchases/Contracts 2384.82"

I guess they outsource the installation of the pole and that most of this item is labour rather than the cost of the pole & accessories.

( Its a bargin when compared to some of the prices Dublin City Council dream up )

kerinsp
Unregistered User
yes but

I am aware they contract this out but they are looking for 250 euro labour for some unknown reason too (before vat of course)

I am trying to get a better breakdown on costs. I wonder are they charging me for a new pole when the old one is perfect. Surely they can re-use whats there.

FruitDog
Unregistered User

Guess its the labour input for supervisor to give instruction to contractor and generate your invoice

(I think they are asking 100 Euro / hour if their lads have to run a bit of wire inside a building - thats before VAT of course )

CityMan
Cost of moving a pole

kerinsp,

I take it you just built a new house and want the pole moved to accommodate a new entrance.

If yes to above or the job is for something similar - do you want eircom to move the pole for free or at a subsidised rate? Because if this is so then all other eircom customers end up paying for this job. While the pole only has to be moved a few yards - the crew have to travel to and from the site and actually do the job.

My own view is if you want something done you pay for it - Simple really. Maybe you should have thought of this before deciding where you wanted the entrance.

Henny Penny
Registered User
Pole-

Is the pole just a pole or does it have a live wire on it? Most of the telecom lines should be underground at this stage ... ditto ESB etc. If that is the case it's just a case of waiting for it to be removed in due course ... a nudge from your local representative should speed it up a wee bit.
My neighbour applied to have an ESB pole removed from where his entrance was going to be ,,, 5,500 euro was the quote he got from the ESB ,,, the pole was not live ... he declined to pay it ... the pole has since been removed along with several other poles on the road ... as they are no longer needed.

Alpha
ESB is different

When I was building I wanted to get an ESB pole moved. The power lines crossed the site so if they ever came down they would have been uncomfortably close to the house. I wanted the pole moved to the end of the garden and into the field next door.

Contacted the owner of the field and he had no objection so long as he could have the old pole. Contacted the ESB and they had no issue with it just that it would have to wait until they had other jobs to do on the line so the could schedule them all together. Trying to minimise service disruptions which is proper.

Took about 9 months, came home one day to find pole moved and everybody happy. No fee and never a question of a fee.

How can two services companies be so totally different?

Re: moving a ESB pole

In the case of an ESB pole, you may not be liable for the cost. If planning is granted for a development which would somehow be endangered by the location of a pole/overhead line, then at least in some areas, the ESB are compelled to move it an carry the cost of same themselves. Check with your local ESB to see what the story is.

Re: moving a ESB pole

In relation to ESB poles, in my area at least, if the pole is where your development is going to be, they will move it for free. This includes the house, garage, carparking etc. If you just want to move it for eg because its not in the ideal location- blocking your view etc, then you have to pay. I was told that if you for eg decide to have a car parking spot where the pole is, to prove it you get the area dug and put down hard core, then ESB inspect and will move for free. Also they upgrade poles every now and then and if you happen to have a pole that needs upgrading they will usually oblige you and shift it while theyre at it.Or at least they did it for me.

Re: moving a ESB pole

I remember watching an RTE summary of the local elections about 10 years ago, It was a "flyonwall" type coverage of a midlands politician doing his rounds.

He was in a small town handing out rosettes, and a shopkeeper confronted him regarding the ESB pole outside his shop.

The politician turned to his crony to make a note and then turned to the shopkeeper and said "consider it moved!".

Up ya boyo!!!

Re: >>Cost re. moving telephone or ESB poles

I've just been contacted by ESB re moving a pole outside my house. They quoted me €3,500-3,600!!!

I wanted the pole moved as my driveway is too narrow to fit a car in. The pole is on one side of my driveway blocking me widening the drive!

I'm just a poor first time buyer and think this charge is totally unfair as it's not my fault the pole is put in a stupid place! What does anyone else think?

Re: >>Cost re. moving telephone or ESB poles

Is it a new or second-hand house? If its the latter see if you local councillor/T.D. can do anything for you.

Re: >>Cost re. moving telephone or ESB poles

Beefs , I am in the same boat as you .... if the pole was moved just 2 metres it would make a massive difference as it is very awkward trying to park at the moment . I just bought the house ( its a second hand ) and I have been trying to get a reply from the ESB . Are you going to go ahead with it ? Any joy with TD ?

Re: >>Cost re. moving telephone or ESB poles

As I said above, when we were trying to have an ESB pole moved they said that if it was in the way of 'development' which I believe included driveway, carparking etc, it would be done for free, if not, there would be a charge. At the time it was suggested to me ( on a nudge nudge wink wink basis) that I should just pretend I was going to put carparking there, dig a bit around, put down some hardcore and call them out and they would then move it. I refused to do that as it was dishonest. But I can't understand why if you are genuinely placing your driveway there or extending it that it should be different for you?

In the end we were lucky as the pole needed upgrading ( the whole area was being done) and when they were replacing the pole anyway, they moved it at no extra cost.