EIRCOM

Eircom customers may be in for a very nasty shock when they open their next bills, according to a report in The Sunday Independent. The company has been accused of ramping up the cost of some phone calls by 320%.

The price increases, which Eircom said at the time would amount to a mere 3%, were introduced in July but are only now appearing on bills. However, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) have described the price hike as “dramatic”.

Since July, Eircom has charged a connection fee of 5.95c after VAT for all calls and began charging per minute rather than per second. This means that even if a call lasts for a couple of seconds, the customer will have to pay for a minute.

ISME claims that as a result of the changes, a 15-second call to a Vodfone mobile has risen 320%, while it costs 52% more to call an 02 mobile.

Eircom is disputing the figures, which were compiled and supplied to ISME by its competitor, Imagine.