Esat line rental service to target residential telephone customers

COMPETITION in the phone market hotted up again yesterday as Esat BT began a new push to grab a share of the country’s 1.2 million residential customers.

Esat says customers will now be able to switch their home phone service from Eircom to them and receive a single telephone bill.

Prior to this customers who switched received two bills, one for their calls from their new supplier and another for line rental from Eircom.

The move by Esat BT comes just days after the communications watchdog ComReg said it expects a large number of customers to switch to a new technology that allows consumers to make phone calls over the internet using their computer.

The so-called Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) may reduce the cost of phones calls as users will be bypassing the standard telephone network and using newer, faster internet connections to make calls.

ComReg hopes that this will lead to cheaper calls for consumers and said the service may be available before the end of this year.

Customers can also ditch their existing number for VOIP calls. The new numbers begin with the prefix 076.

Consumers will, however, need an internet connection and a microphone and headset before they can use the new service.

The last couple of months have seen a number of companies enter the Irish market, including Swedish firm Tele2 and UTV, all promising lower prices.

Esat BT chief executive Bill Murphy said yesterday that single billing will deliver savings for consumers, who have seen the price of line rental rise in the past 12 months.

“The launch of single billing is a significant step in the liberalisation of the Irish telecoms market. Competition brings greater choice, price and innovation and businesses that shop around will be the clear winners,” he said.