Woman left ‘fed up’ without broadband after Storm Éowyn

Woman left ‘fed up’ without broadband after Storm Éowyn

19 March 2025

A BALLYHORNAN woman has said she was “fed up” after she was left without broadband in her home for over five weeks following Storm Éowyn.

The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a Fibrus customer and works from home.

She said the lack of an internet connection up until last week heavily affected her ability to do her job.

“My neighbours all had broadband service and there are other Fibrus customers in the village,” she explained.

“I had been relying on the goodwill of others – when I told people I was still without broadband they looked at me in disbelief.”

The resident said she had had a poor experience with the internet service provider’s customer service department in the days and weeks since the issue arose.

“I first had a telephone 

call with Fibrus on Monday, January 27, and they called out to the house the next day. 

It wasn’t until February 25 – almost a month later – that I was told what the problem was. 

“I rang them every few days. I had four scheduled visits, two of which did not take place.”

The resident lives near a telegraph pole which was damaged during the storm, however she was told by a Fibrus employee during one earlier visit that they would be unable to climb it to fix it.  

“I had arranged a phone call with the customer service manager. The phone signal is quite poor where I live so I told the manager I would need to schedule when they rang. 

“They didn’t take that on board and didn’t ring as requested.”

The woman said she had been left with no choice but to go public about her experience.

“Fibrus’ customer service is not fit for purpose,” she said. “I don’t feel like I was high on anyone’s priority list. They didn’t give me any alternative.”

The customer’s broadband was finally repaired by subcontractors on Friday evening, one day short of six weeks after the storm. 

“I spoke to South Down MLA Colin McGrath and his team. I truly believe that their intervention caused Fibrus to act and eventually repair,” she said.

A spokesperson for Fibrus said the company’s response to the storm was “the largest telecoms repair mission ever seen in NI”.

The spokesperson said Fibrus was “pleased to confirm that all major damage to our network has been repaired thanks to the hard work of our teams and contracting partners.”

The spokesperson continued: “In this instance, there was additional damage to an Openreach pole which requires repairs by a third party.

“Whilst we wait for this to be repaired, we are pleased to confirm that we have been able to accommodate a temporary solution and the customer is now reconnected. This will be made permanent once the Openreach pole has been fixed or replaced.”

The spokesperson added that customers who were out of service due to damaged fibre were entitled to compensation.