Irish mobile phone operators including Vodafone and O2 may start offering mobile services in the vicinity of customers' homes for the same price as fixed-line calls, saving users considerable amounts of money.

ComReg, the communications regulator, yesterday announced the start of a six-week consultation with industry and other interested parties as to how the system would work in Ireland.

Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile already successfully operate similar services in Germany, where the idea has proved popular.

In Ireland the main mobile operators, Vodafone, O2 and Meteor, have all said they will participate in the consultation, but declined to say whether they would offer such a service here should it get the go-ahead.

The consultation period ends on September 15th and the regulator hopes to make a decision by November. If it is positive, the service could be available as early as next year.

According to the regulator, such a service, to be known as home-zone, would reduce phone bills, as calls between fixed-line phones are cheaper than mobile- to-mobile calls.

Under ComReg's current proposals, the home-zone service would provide mobile customers with both a fixed and a mobile telephone number, enabling their contacts to call them at fixed-line costs while they are within a defined area close to their homes.

Any calls to the mobile number would be treated in the same way as normal calls to mobiles and tariffs would reflect the normal mobile rates.

It is unclear what the exact home-zone area would be, and according to a ComReg spokesman this will depend on the technology employed by the mobile phone companies that choose to offer the service.

ComReg's website said the potential introduction of home-zone services could increase competition in both fixed and mobile markets in Ireland.