Consumers face a third successive increase in telephone line rental in a year, following a new application by Eircom to increase its fee.
The company has told the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) that it plans to increase line rental charges by up to 8 per cent. It will also amend some call management services, although details of the changes are not yet available.
Full details of the list of proposed new telecommunications prices should be made available on Eircom's website later today.
The proposed new hike in line rental charges will enrage many residential consumers who have already seen line rental increase by €2.99 since February 2003.
Eircom's line rental charges for residential consumers are currently the highest in the European Union at €22.50. The proposed increase in line rental would push the monthly fee to €24.30, almost €10 higher than the EU average for line rental during 2003 of about €14.
A recent EU report published on the telecommunications market highlighted that Eircom's 2003 monthly line rental was about €9 more than Britain's fee and €9.50 more than France's fee.
Eircom would not comment on the price increase when contacted last night.
A ComReg spokesman confirmed it had received an application for an increase in line rental charges. He said the Commission would consider the application over the next few weeks.
But under the terms of the Telecommunications Scheme it is unlikely that ComReg can prevent Eircom from increasing line rental charges. Eircom is currently governed by a price cap that enables it to increase the cost of a basket of services by the rate of the consumer price index.
In recent years, Eircom has increased its line rental charges steeply while reducing call costs to comply with the price cap. This enables the company to compete strongly against other telecoms operators which cannot yet offer a valid line rental product.
A plan to enable other telecoms firms to offer line rental to consumers is currently almost a year behind schedule. Competing operators blame Eircom for the long delays. Eircom says it has already provided a viable wholesale service to its rivals.
