Eircom is to introduce changes which will see many bills increase by 3.1 per cent from next month and is also cutting the length of cheaper off-peak hours.

The company will increase set-up fees for calls from 5.95 cent to 9.5 cent for businesses and home customers. This charge, which will come into effect from March 11th, will apply to any calls made outside of a customer’s monthly call bundle.

In addition, charges per call are to be rounded up to the nearest cent from May 11th.

A second change from May 11th will see the more expensive peak hours increase by two hours to 7am to 7pm from Monday to Friday for the majority of customers.

Customers who do not have a call plan can expect to see bills increase by an average of 3.1 per cent, Eircom said in a statement today.

Monthly call packages will stay the same but calls made outside these plans will increase.

However, thousands of existing residential customers have the option of exiting their Eircom contracts early without penalty as a result of these changes.

Customers will need to give the company written notification that they wish to leave their contract by March 10th. This condition does not apply to business customers.

This right comes from an EU regulation which means that the customers have the right to withdraw from contract without penalty if they do not accept a proposed modification.

The company’s 11811 directory enquiry prices will also be increase from April 11th. The cost for a one minute call will increase from €1.68 to €1.99.

The company has also introduced a new cancellation policy which means that residential customers may have to give the company one written months notice to terminate their phone services, if they are not in a contract.

Broadband and landline rental prices will not be affected by Eircom’s changes.

A spokesman for Eircom said the decision was “not taken lightly”.

“It’s a challenge for everyone in the current economic environment. We are seeing revenues decreasing and we feel this is able to help us to generate more revenue to put into new and exciting services,” he said.

“It’s important to note that most customers are unaffected if they stay within their bundles and packages” he said. “70 per cent of customers are unaffected,” he added.

The National Consumer Agency said it was “disappointed to see yet another price hike for consumers who have been hit hard recently”.

However it advised consumers to shop around and compare costs on ComReg’s website callcost.ie.