Eircom criticised for increasing the cost of local phone calls

The average Eircom customer's bill will rise by 1.2 per cent as a result of increased phone charges announced yesterday.

The average Eircom customer's bill will rise by 1.2 per cent as a result of increased phone charges announced yesterday.

The cost of all local calls are set to increase. Local calls during the evening and at weekends will rise from 0.77p a minute to 1p a minute, while daytime local calls will increase from 3.38p to 4p a minute. The average cost of local calls will rise by 2.8 per cent.

Eircom is ending its practice of refunding the cost of four directory inquiry calls on each bimonthly bill. These refunds were worth up to £1.14. However, to simplify all weekend calls, national calls will also be charged at 1p a minute. This compares to the existing charge of 1.15p a minute and will mean a saving of almost six per cent for residential customers. Calls from fixed lines to mobile phones are excluded from the offer.

"The overall impact of these price changes for customers is an increase of 1.2 per cent on the average bill," the company stated. "To date this year, customers' bills have been reduced overall by 5 per cent."

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According to the Telecommunications Users Group, the business community will bear the brunt of the increases, as they are the major users of daytime local calls. The increase for commercial customers would be considerably higher than 1.2 per cent. The chairwoman of TUG, Ms Dee Carey, said: "This is more evidence that the Irish telecommunications market is not yet deregulated, as prices have fallen in every other country which has been deregulated."

Coming in the wake of Eircom's refusal to compensate customers who were affected by the recent "communications blackout" in Dublin, the price increases were a "rotten piece of public relations", Ms Carey said.

The new charges take effect from December 21st. The per minute charges are subject to a minimum charge of 11.5p a minute.

Eircom has also announced a reduced call rate for the Christmas period. From midnight on December 24th to midnight on January 3rd, local, national and international calls will be charged at weekend rates.

The company is introducing two new discount schemes for business customers. The Optimiser package is aimed at the smaller business user and will offer discounts of up to 33 per cent on certain calls. The Performance package is for larger corporate customers and will provide savings of up to 48 per cent on certain calls.