It’s a tough call to make...

IT would have been eccentric 10 years ago, but we are considering giving up our landline telephone.

When it rings, it’s like Alfred Hitchcock’s film Dial ‘M’ for Murder.

We dust off the handset with trembling fingers, and gather around it, muttering nervously about who could possibly be igniting the dino-phone. Eircom cannot provide us with broadband to bundle into the landline, as we are a tantalising 300m from the connection point, so what are we paying for? According to my last bill, €8.07 in call charges for two months, and a total, including package charges and calls, after VAT, of €93.27. It seems rude to stop this passive financial conduit to Eircom, but I think it’s time to hang up for good.