Smart Telecom offers free calls

SMART TELECOM has upped the stakes in the domestic fixed-line phone market by bringing in free calls for its customers.

The company, which is quoted on London’s Alternative Investment Market, yesterday launched Smart to Smart, a product that allows Smart customers to call other Smart customers for free.

The offer is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and applies to both local and national calls of less than 60 minutes’ duration. Customers will be billed at normal rates if a call runs past the hour mark, but the company said charges could be avoided if the caller hung up before the 60 minutes were up and then redialled.

Smart Telecom chief executive Oisin Fanning said the company was the first to offer the product in the Irish market. “Customers who have switched to Smart Telecom from Eircom are already saving up to 40% on their telephone bill,” said Mr Fanning. “With the introduction of Smart to Smart, they can now make even more substantial savings. The key is to encourage your friends and family to switch to Smart Telecom so that everyone will benefit.” Some fixed-line network operators in Britain have offered free calls between customers on their networks for some time.

Mr Fanning said there were no hidden charges with the new product and that existing Smart customers would qualify automatically for the free call deal. New customers only needed to contact Smart with their Eircom account number to transfer and would retain their existing phone number after the switch, he said.

The company aims to have 80,000 customers signed up by the end of the year. It is also active in the business communications market and offers broadband connections using Metropolitan Area Networks in major towns and cities.

Mr Fanning said the company has invested in the latest technology that provides faster internet access and requires less ongoing maintenance work than traditional copper wires.