Vodafone Ireland customers will pay significantly more than British subscribers to use the latest mobile phone technology.
They will also have to pay for new handsets that are compatible with third generation (3G) services, whereas Vodafone subscribers in Britain will not have to pay for some of the handsets.
Vodafone, which is the first Irish mobile firm to launch video and multimedia services using third generation technology, said yesterday its prices reflected the cost of operating in each country.
"We have to negotiate our 3G contracts separately and different charges apply," said a Vodafone Ireland spokeswoman. "The British arm of Vodafone benefits from economies of scale as they are selling into a much larger market than we are."
But the difference in tariffs could reignite controversy in the Irish market where the two main operators, Vodafone and O2, have been accused of charging excessive prices to their customers.
3G is the latest mobile technology which enables phone operators to beam video and multimedia services to handsets at faster speeds than currently possible. Vodafone Ireland, which has 1.8 million subscribers, is the first company in the Irish market to offer 3G services to consumers. It published its price list for the new services yesterday and said the new mobile handsets will be in Irish stores this week.
But a comparison of the prices charged by Vodafone Ireland and its British subsidiary show that using 3G services will be more expensive in the Republic. Irish people will pay between €169 to €319 to buy a third generation (3G) mobile handset while Vodafone's British customers can sign up for a free handset.
One model of 3G mobile phone, the Motorola V980, will cost €169 in the Republic while Vodafone's British customers can get it free under certain contracts. The Sony Ericsson V800 will cost €319 in the Republic while it can cost as little as £50 (€71) in Britain, a Vodafone spokesman confirmed yesterday.
Vodafone's Irish subscribers will also have to pay significantly more than their British counterparts to access a host of multimedia services from soccer clips to 3D video games. For example, in Britain consumers will pay €7 per month to download goal clips from premiership matches while Irish subscribers will pay €9.99.
Vodafone has also launched a range of 3G packages offering bundles of voice minutes, text messages and multimedia messages in Ireland and Britain.
Vodafone Ireland, O2 and Meteor will all appear at an Oireachtas enquiry today investigating several separate instances of overcharging in the Irish marketplace.
