Online service helps consumers to compare providers' prices, writes Laura Slattery.

Eircom's rivals have clamoured to be heard above the din of advertisements insisting that it is the cheaper-than-cheap telecoms provider that will not only slash phone bills, but get customers promoted at work, improve their social life and make them an all-round nicer person.

By now, consumers will have worked out that the service provided by these alternative operators amounts to something a little more sophisticated than a couple of eggcups and a piece of string.

Switching telecoms operators can be done with relative ease, without having to change telephone numbers or cutting themselves off from friends and family in the process.

But with plenty of claims and counter claims around, how can confused consumers know where to turn to save the most money?

For example, if you spend lunchtime hanging on the telephone but would rather cut out your larynx than make any communication with the outside world during your evening soap opera schedule, who is the best value?

If your preferred method of contact with people in Ireland is the occasional SMS, but you need a landline to make lengthy calls to your Canadian lover, which telecoms operator isn't going to fleece you for the pleasure?

This week, the Communications Regulator (ComReg) expanded its Callcosts.ie website to include landline and broadband services, so that consumers can work out which one will be cheapest for them based on their own individual usage pattern.

There are no "typical" consumer "profiles" that telecoms users must fit themselves into, but a sophisticated calculator that responds to the information entered and generates a list of suitable products, ranked by cost.

The site, which was launched in embryonic form last November, already allowed mobile customers to compare price plans.

It now includes the details of an overwhelming 80 home phone and broadband products sold by 13 operators as well as the 37 plans sold by the four mobile providers - in other words, a full menu of telecoms services to pick and choose from.

Callcosts.ie now contains four calculators - one for mobiles, one for broadband, one for landlines and one for combined broadband and landline services - and they do most of the work.

For example, Ms A is attracted to the idea of having the same landline and broadband provider might try Callcosts.ie's combined services calculator.

The first thing she will be asked to do is enter her home phone usage details either monthly or daily, the times when she makes most of her calls and what type of calls they are.

She might say that she mostly makes calls in the evenings and on weekends, around 240 minutes (four hours) on local calls every month, 120 minutes on national calls and 180 minutes on calls to mobiles.

She will then be asked if she makes international calls, and given the option of entering in up to three countries to which she regularly makes calls, picking from a list of 10 countries. So she might say she spends two hours on the line to Australia every month and two hours talking to a UK mobile user every month.

Next, she is asked about broadband. Would she like her connection to be "always on" or "time-based"?

Over the two years, broadband providers have moved to offer cheaper broadband products where usage is limited to 20 hours a month and extra charges apply to any additional usage.

Ms A decides that she wants her connection to be "always on", but that she doesn't mind what download speed the product has.

Callcosts.ie then instantly produces a list of the most cost-efficient operators for Ms A.

First on the list is UTV's Clicksilver One broadband product together with its landline package UTV Talk, which will have a combined monthly average cost of €97.86.

Windows on customer service hours, billing methods and payment options are included in the list, as is information about the broadband plan, which has a 1 MB download speed and a minimum contract of six months.

When calculating the monthly average cost of broadband, the site will include any promotional offers, connection charges and other costs or discounts.

Ms A can then follow a link to the UTV site to check if they supply broadband in her area.

In another example, Mr Z makes most of his calls during the day, Monday to Friday, spending three hours each on local calls, national calls, calls to mobiles and international calls to UK landlines. He also wants an "always on" broadband connection and would like the download speed to be at least 2MB.

Callcosts.ie calculates that the cheapest combined landline and broadband provider for Mr Z will be BT's 2MB broadband and Total Talk package, which will cost him an average of €90.24 a month.

On the broadband calculator, users can decide whether or not they want Callcosts.ie to take the cost of line rental into account.

Most broadband connections in Ireland are DSL or Digital Subscriber Line connections, meaning they make use of enhanced copper telephone wires to supply high-speed internet access.

This means they must have a telephone line and pay the cost of line rental.

At €24.18 a month, this cost is higher in the Republic than it is in any other EU country. While many DSL broadband providers offer time-based plans for as little as €9.99 a month, line rental adds to the true cost of these plans.

But wireless broadband services don't require a landline, meaning they could be a cheap option for consumers who make all of their voice calls on their mobiles or on voice over internet (VoIP) services like Skype.

If a broadband user who wants an always-on connection and a download speed of at least 1MB opts to exclude the cost of line rental from the products that don't need a telephone line, Callcosts.ie will find that the cheapest product is Cablenet Broadband Easy from cable provider Chorus.

However, if the broadband user lives in Dublin, Chorus services will not be available.

If the results are filtered by county, Callcosts.ie will show that the cheapest broadband product for a Dublin user is Digiweb's Metro Lite, a wireless 1MB broadband plan with an average monthly cost of €27.42.

According to ComReg, consumers spend an average of €52 a month on fixed-line services into their homes.

This figure includes landlines and bundled landline plus broadband services and compares with an average-revenue-per-user (Arpu) figure of €47 for mobile customers.

Research by ComReg indicates that 66 per cent of home phone owners consider price to be the most important factor.

But many have not yet made the move away from Eircom - only 21 per cent have a different landline operator - or have been frustrated in their attempts to find a provider, any provider, to supply them with broadband.

ComReg commissioner Mike Byrne says Callcosts.ie will improve price transparency in the telecoms market and encourage competition between service providers.

"As information becomes available, more consumers will switch."