Farmer told it will cost €29,000 to have phone line installed in home
Tim O'Connor outside his home in the Gap of Dunloe with Eircom's letter
A SHEEP farmer living in Co Kerry has been quoted a staggering €29,000 by Eircom to have a phone installed in his home.
Tim O'Connor, from the Gap of Dunloe, lives in a remote area surrounded by mountains and has to use a mobile phone to make all his calls.
He applied to Eircom to have a fixed landline installed in his home but was told that the total cost would come to €29,226.
The company said Mr O'Connor's house is in such a remote area that it would have to erect 43 timber poles and run 2,400 metres of cable to his house.
Mr O'Connor -- who lives with his French partner Sabina and their two children -- was astonished when he received the quote.
"Not a hope in the world would I pay that. Nobody could afford that," he said.
He feels he and his relatives who are living nearby are being treated unfairly because they live in a remote valley surrounded by mountains.
In a letter to Mr O'Connor, Eircom said it was obliged to provide telephone lines to customers even at a loss to the company. But it was only willing to carry a maximum cost of €7,000, leaving Mr O'Connor to foot a bill of over €22,000.
The company also wants almost €15,000 up front but did provide a freepost envelope to place the order.
- Aidan O'Connor
