Website to help mobile phone users get best deal

MOBILE phone users will soon be able to find out whether they are getting the best deal available, thanks to an interactive website operated by Comreg.

The website will ask phone users to answer questions relating to their phone usage and, after calculating all the different rates across the various phone operators, will then offer a comparative analysis between the networks.

The telecommunications watchdog will launch the website, www.callcosts.ie, this Thursday, and will provide a ready comparison of overall costs, including the various tariff options, offered by Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3. A spokesman for Comreg said the site would help consumers to decide whether they were getting the best deal on their mobile.

The idea for the new website was proposed by Comreg after discussions with other groups, including the Consumers' Association of Ireland (CAI).

CAI chief executive Dermott Jewell, who is also an external member of Comreg's consumer advisory panel, said that all too often, consumers were "completely baffled" by the various costs involved in mobile phone use.

"It (the website) takes a huge amount of an extremely difficult task away from consumers, in trying to compare your requirements across the providers at different times, the different slots and the different charges," he said.

He claimed that the different tariff rates and mobile phone options are often not broken down into simple terms, including how much money people are likely to end up paying and how much they could save by shopping around.

"The telecommunications system is a perfect example of an over-supply of information it's really a case of overkill," Mr Jewell said.

"Consumers look at it (the various tariffs options) and basically turn away because they do not have the time or the inclination, or it completely baffles them. It's the way the system is geared, almost.

"This is a positive way of trying to help consumers understand the system.

"This should inspire competition because it will challenge everybody in the market to do their best, but what will be very important is that consumers come to know of the existence of the site," he added.