Poland is now the second most popular destination for international calls from payphones in the Republic, according to a new survey from Eircom.
The most popular is Britain, while the next most popular countries are Germany, Spain, the US, France and Italy, in that order.
The company said many eastern European countries are also appearing in the list of most frequently called countries from payphones. It intends to offer reduced rate calls over the Christmas period, supported by an advertising campaign in Chinese and Polish as well as English.
As part of its research Eircom also analysed the areas from where payphone calls to international destinations were made. This showed that, again excluding Britain - which is traditionally the most frequently dialled foreign country - Germany was the country of most popular choice for calls made from Cos Kerry and Donegal. It also found that :
People in Cork most frequently rang Poland, as did those in Dublin, Galway, Kildare and Tipperary.
People in Mayo most frequently called the US, as did people from Clare.
People in Wicklow most often called Spain.
Among the 10 most popular countries called from payphones in the last year were Australia, Ethiopia, Ukraine and Syria.
A spokesman for Eircom said the pattern of calling not only reflected the different nationalities that visited Ireland, but also reflected the areas that had growing non-national communities.
The company said it expects more than 200,000 people to make calls to more than 130 countries between Christmas and the new year.
Eircom published the information as part of a promotional campaign offering reduced-rate calls from payphones over Christmas. From today calls to all international landline destinations will be offered at 25 cent a minute. Callers using prepaid Eircom callcards will be able to make calls for 15c a minute.
Despite the growth in the number of mobile phones in circulation Eircom says it still has more than 6,000 payphones across the Republic.
