The country’s largest telecom firm has claimed there is a material flaw in the desire by the industry’s regulator to keep public payphones in operation.

Latest: The "intermittent issues" mobile phone provider Eir have been experiencing have now been resolved.

The telecoms regulator is in a row with Eir, the country’s largest telecom firm, about whether it should be obliged to provide public pay phones.

The cost of phone calls within the European Union could be capped at 19 cent a minute.

The Communications Minister Denis Naughten admits that a lack of mobile phone coverage is preventing some Irish businesses from expanding.

Adverts for telecommunications companies attracted the most complaints by the public in 2016 — as the total number of complaints rose by 8%.

Traditional telecommunications companies are being “stripped” of core revenue-generating services by emerging technologies and will have to think outside the box to remain competitive in the coming years, according to one of the country’s foremost industry experts.

Approximately 100,000 customers of mobile network Three have been without service today.