O2 has defended subscription charges for people who sign up to use the Apple iPhone, when the devices go on sale next week.
The usage limits on various tariffs here differ significantly to those available to o2 iPhone customers in the North. One telecoms company has called for a boycott of the devices until the discrepancies are addressed.
iPhone tariffs north and south of the border are divided into three price brackets. All customers have to sign up to an 18 month contract.
In Northern Ireland, users paying £35 sterling (€45.65) get 600 minutes of call time and 500 texts. By contrast the basic €45 subscription here gives 175 minutes and 100 texts.
Northern subscribers on the middle tariff of £45 - or €58.70 - get 1,200 minutes and 500 texts, compared to the 350 minutes and 150 texts for people paying €65 a month here.
The high end subscription of £75 sterling (€97.83) gives users 3,000 minutes of talk time and 500 texts. In the Republic of Ireland, O2's highest iPhone tariff costs €100 and gives 700 minutes and 250 texts per month.
In addition, Irish consumers using the iPhone to access the internet are subject to a one gigabyte data limit each month - before extra charges are applied - regardless of their subscription plan. In the UK, users on all tariffs have unlimited data allowances.
Cork-based Cubic Telecom says consumers here should demand that the tariff differences are addressed. It says the pricing structure for O2 customers here is unacceptable. The company plans to release a guide telling people how to buy iPhones outside of Ireland and unlock them to work on any network here.
In response, O2 has defended the monthly charges it plans to introduce. In a statement this evening, the company said that while the price plans here varied to those on offer in the UK, they were comparable to those in other EU countries where the iPhone has been launched.
O2 claims the tariffs here represent excellent value, compared to other smart phone device offers currently on the marketplace in Ireland.
Tariffs in France and Germany - where the iPhone was launched last year - are broadly in line with those on offer here but users are entitled to unlimited data transfers as part of their subscriptions. O2 says the one gigabyte limit for Irish subscribers equates to a huge amount of data for the average user.
