Eir to cease delivery of phonebooks to every house

Telephone directories will no longer be distributed to every household from next year but instead will only be made available to phone users on request.

ComReg, the telecoms regulator, has confirmed the provision of a free printed local area telephone directory to all households and businesses will be discontinued from 2019.

Customers can still get a copy of their local area phonebook but will have to request one from Eir and may face a delivery charge.

While telephone directories will remain free, Eir has been given permission to impose a delivery charge on consumers who want a copy.

ComReg has estimated the possible cost could be €5 to €15. The regulator said it decided there were now reasons to change the obligations placed on Eir on telephone directories in its role as the universal service provider of fixed telephone line services.

It has ruled there is no longer a need for the “blanket printing” and distribution of telephone directories.

However, ComReg said it had decided that there was still a need for Eir to provide a printed directory of telephone subscribers within a particular geographic area on request to landline phone users.

Eir has also been told to carry out a public awareness campaign to notify customers of the proposed changes by next summer with on request directories to be made available from the second half of 2019.

The regulator said Eir has the discretion to decide whether or not to charge households and businesses for distribution of the telephone directories.

However, it said the company cannot impose charges for the cost of printing and packaging the phonebooks but must limit any fee to transit costs. The new obligation will remain in place for one year to allow ComReg assess the actual level of demand from subscribers for telephone directories.

“The on-request printed directory of subscribers ensures the provision of basic telecommunication services, contributing to the social and economic inclusiveness and cohesiveness,” ComReg said.

It said its decision to ensure printed phone books were still available to customers was based on a factors including the fact that 18.4% of households have no internet connection and thus no access to Eir’s online telephone directory.

ComReg said there are about 100,000 households who only have a landline number, while other research demonstrated that smartphone ownership falls among older age groups.

A Red-C survey commissioned by the regulator showed those aged over 55 years were still likely to use the printed telephone directory, particularly those living in Connacht and Ulster, for finding phone numbers.