What Vodafone Ireland is doing to keep you and this country connected

Recent developments in Ireland have thrown up a myriad of challenges for families, businesses and our hard-working healthcare staff. There is no doubt that the spread of COVID-19 now means a period of uncertainty and worry for many. I wanted to let you know what Vodafone Ireland is doing to keep you and this country connected.

We are working hard to support all our customers, whether that be other providers of critical national infrastructure, government departments, businesses both big and small, and our 2.3 million mobile and broadband customers.

We continue to focus on improving and updating our network across Ireland to ensure we provide world-class connectivity for our customers, particularly during this uncertain period as we look to support our customers working remotely. Our technology and ability to move fast means that we can play an instrumental role in this crisis. We can offer the connectivity tools and services people need to continue communicating and doing business.

Over the past weeks, we have robustly tested our business continuity plans and have seen very positive results. This gives us confidence that we are in a strong position be able to support you, our customers and the services we supply.

Prioritising Our People

Our people are central to everything we do at Vodafone Ireland and we will continue to make their health and safety our priority.

Following the latest government announcement, we are encouraging everyone who can work from home, to do so until further notice and we are supporting flexible work arrangements for our retail employees. This is especially relevant to employees with underlying health issues, or those living with people who have health issues. We also understand that due to the closure of schools and childcare facilities, many of our people have families to take care of over the coming weeks.

We have asked all employees to stop travel between Vodafone sites and to conduct external meetings remotely using our smart technologies. All of our employees also have full access to employee well-being services during these challenging times.

We will continue to monitor the situation, and will take further action if required in line with advice from Government and the Health Services.

 Vodafone Customers

 We understand that many businesses are relying on our services to ensure continuity. For those working remotely, it is critical that mobile and broadband connectivity supports everything you need to do. I want to assure you that we are working very hard on ensuring those needs are met.

 For vulnerable groups such as the elderly, those living alone or in isolation, we will work hard to ensure you are always connected to your friends, family, care-workers and community.

 We have added extra capacity to our fixed, broadband and mobile networks to cope with the extra demand as more people work from home. We will continually monitor and enhance this over the coming weeks to minimise congestion at particularly busy periods.

 We have stood up additional care teams to provide ongoing support to customers and businesses who need technical assistance at this time. Our digital tools like the Vodafone Ireland website and My Vodafone app will also continue to provide an online customer support platform. Our retail stores remain open with strict social distancing and health and safety practices being enforced.

 We have significantly increased the level of support we offer for all critical infrastructure customers, such as the HSE who are providing critical public services at this extremely difficult time. We have established dedicated expert teams to work to provide additional fixed and mobile network capacity and other services quickly to critical organisations as required.

 Finally, people understandably want quick and easy access to the latest health information. So from this week, we are enabling all mobile customers to access HSE online websites (www.hse.ie) for free, without it affecting their data allowances. This will also apply to www.gov.ie, another important site for distributing public information. Free access to these sites will be available for as long as the Coronavirus remains prevalent in Ireland.

 Our Network

 It is critical that mobile and broadband connectivity supports the steady rise in remote working. Vodafone’s ongoing investment and comprehensive network enhancement programme means that our network is at the highest standard to deal with increased demand.

We are in regular contact with our critical suppliers and have the greatest possible transparency on our supply chains. Discussions with our suppliers confirm our positive outlook for deliveries of network, IT and terminal equipment over the next few months.

 We are also in regular contact with our global coordination team in Vodafone Group, sharing best practices and learning a lot from our colleagues in other markets.

 To conclude, one of our core values in Vodafone is ‘Get it Done Together’. I can assure you, that my team and I in Vodafone Ireland are working hard to enhance network performance and capacity to maintain the level of service you need and expect from us in this difficult time. Please take care of yourselves and your families and follow all government and health service advice.