Telecom cuts SME tariffs

A range of reduced telephone charges unveiled by Telecom Eireann yesterday for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will see the cost of calls to Britain almost halved. As part of the £130 million package that came into effect on Monday, the peak time rate of 22p per minute was reduced to 16p per minute. But the "Business Saver" scheme provides, from July 1st, for a 12p rate, a 25 per cent reduction, for companies whose monthly phone bill is more than £35 or, on average, in excess of £1.35 per day based on a six-day week.

"These will directly benefit about 90 per cent of small businesses in Ireland," the chairman of Telecom, Mr Ron Bolger, said.

Mr Bolger, who announced the scheme at yesterday's Small Firms Association conference, said that telecom costs were an important feature of businesses. "The one thing they can rely on is that the call rates are going down and down while their own use of telephones is going up and up," he said. The scheme, which is applicable to ISDN data and voice calls, gives a 6 per cent reduction on local calls, mobile calls and trunk calls within a 56km range, a 15 per cent cut on trunk calls over 56km, and a 25 per cent reduction on international and cross-channel calls.