Phone bills to rise as Eircom rings the changes

PHONE bills are set to rise by 3% from next month after Eircom announced a range of price hikes.

The cost of line rental, directory enquiries, handset rental and call answering will rise from March 18. The latest increases mean the cost of calls in Ireland is among the highest in Europe.

Residential customers will see their monthly line rental fee increase by €1.28 to €17.48. Directory enquiry services will also increase from 48.5c per call to 52c, while the monthly call answering fee will rise from €1.07 to €1.12.

The price hikes will put further pressure on inflation following increases in electricity, gas, oil, public transport, TV licences and a range of household goods and services.

An Eircom spokesperson said the average residential bill had fallen by 8.6% over the last four years, while the bill for commercial customers had dropped by 15.8%.

The company, which has a market share of over 80%, claims the increases were necessary as line rental income does not cover the cost of providing and maintaining its infrastructure. Eircom said it incurs an annual deficit of approximately €170m on its network.

However, the phone charges contrast sharply with most other countries in Europe, where they have fallen in recent years. Overall communication costs, including phone charges, rose by 0.6% in Ireland last year, while they fell by 1% on average across the EU.

Consumer and business organisations reacted angrily, claiming the increases highlighted the lack of competition in the landline market.

IBEC spokesperson Siobhan Masterson said they posed a further risk to the competitiveness of businesses, when costs in Ireland were already far above the EU average.

The Consumers Association of Ireland claimed the increases were unwarranted. “This is another example of the consumers paying through the nose for a company that has already cost many of them dearly through their shareholder scheme,” said chairman Michael Kilcoyne.

However, Eircom claims it has provided price cuts worth €244m since 1999, including major reductions in the cost of national daytime and evening calls last December.

Eircom is also facing stronger competition after it was recently criticised by telecom regulator ComReg for delays in allowing other companies to provide cheaper leased lines. ComReg has warned it will impose its own prices if the company fails to submit its pricing proposals by March 10.