Outraged public slam latest Eir price increase that will affect around 500,000 customers

There has been widespread outrage this morning following revelations that telecoms provider Eir are planning to increase the cost of their services by up to €84 per year for each customer.

The price increases come just a year after there was a previous hike in the cost of their broadband and telephone services, though it has been confirmed that those who have recently signed up to the service would not be subject to any increases.

The rise will see consumers paying up to €84 extra per yer as the monthly charge rises by between €3 and €7, while the cost of calls will be rising by 33 cent.

The move has attracted widespread criticism from those who feel they are being unfairly hit by price hikes too often, with many on social media saying that they will leave the provider.

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In an Irish Independent report this morning, the deputy chairman  of the Consumers Association, Michael Kilcoyne, stated that the price hike would affect the elderly as they are more likely to have been with the company for longer and not recently signed up.

"This shows there is no reward for staying loyal to a company," he said.

"Some of these people who will be affected have been with the company since it was the P&T. They are hitting the old and the vulnerable. These people also lost their telephone allowance."

An Eir spokesperson refuted claims that they were hitting loyal customers, though he confirmed that customers who recently signed up will not be affected.

 "Eir can confirm a price change impacting both consumer and small business customers across voice, standalone broadband and our broadband bundles. These price changes will be reflected in customer bills on a phased basis from mid-September.

"All standalone mobile customers who are either on pre-pay or post-pay will not be impacted. Customers on our new FTTH (fibre to the home) product are also not impacted."

The Eir spokesman denied that it was hitting loyal and vulnerable customers.

"I would reject any suggestion that we are exploiting loyal or older customers," he said.