TELECOM Eireann last night welcomed a global trade agreement on telecommunications and promised to cut Irish telephone rates by an average of 50 per cent during the next three years.
The company said competition bin the world market would force down bills everywhere and it was ready to bring the benefits to Ireland.
"Our prices will be halving over the next three years. There will be across the board reductions," said Mr Gerry O'Sullivan, head of Telecom Eireann corporate communications.
The company, which retains its domestic users monopoly until 2000, said long distance and international calls were likely to be cut by more than 50 per cent, but local calls would not be reduced by as much.
Reacting to the signing of a telecommunications accord by 68 countries at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva at the weekend, Mr O'Sullivan said Telecom Eireann was prepared for vigorous competition in the next century.
"There are two key forces at work now global deregulation and rapid technological advances. The combination will put the customer firmly in the driving seat" he said.
The WTO agreement will liberalise trade in telephone services, fax and data transmission. The countries that signed it account for more than 90 per cent of the industry, which is worth an estimated £400 billion a year.
Telecom Eireann said the deal highlighted the significance of its alliance with AT&T and Unisource through the sale of 20 per scent of the firm to an international telecommunications conglomorate.
It also underscored the importance of the company's strategic programme, Mr O'Sullivan added. This would see a significant reduction in Telecom Eireann's costs, including a payroll reduction of one third, as well as expansion abroad.
"The challenge for us is to grow our business rapidly," he said. What we're talking about really is growing the business outside Ireland, with investments of £100 million and over. You have to remember that 80 per cent of the world's population doesn't have a phone.
"In Ireland, we'll be continuing to rapidly reduce our prices. There have already been significant reductions for example, calls to Britain are down from 60 pence to 27 pence a minute, and calls to the US used to be £1.55 a minute, they're now at 44p."
His comments supersede remarks in the Dail in October, when the Minister of State for Communications, Mr Emmet Stagg, said Telecom Eireann customers would see their bills fall by 6 per cent a year over the next five years. Savings for phone users could come to £40 million a year.
At that time, Telecom Eireann promised to introduce a scheme whereby domestic telephone users' would get a bulk discount if they called particular numbers several times a week.
US telephone companies, deregulated for longer than in most other countries and recognised as world leaders, will benefit most from the new accord.