Vol. 430 No. 8
216 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he will give comparative cost figures for 9, 12, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minute peak-time local phone-calls between Ireland, the other 11 EC countries the United States and Australia; his views on whether the new tariff regime will seriously discriminate against Dublin city, Cork city and other urban households; and if he will amend it.
217 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the average duration of a domestic telephone call made in the (01) exchange area on Telecom Éireann's network.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together.
I do not have available in my Department the information which would enable me to calculate the average duration of a domestic telephone call made in the Dublin (01) exchange area on Telecom Éireann's network. As I indicated in my statement on Telecom Éireann rebalancing package a special survey of all local calls made on Telecom Éireann's network during a week in September last indicated that 72.5 per cent of all local calls throughout the country made were of three minutes duration or less. I have no reason to believe these percentages in the (01) area were significantly different. The average duration of all calls was about 3.7 minutes ranging from under three minutes for peak business calls to over five minutes for off peak residential calls. I might add that details such as average duration of calls made come within the operational responsibilities of Telecom Éireann and it would not be appropriate for me, under the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1993, to intervene in such matters.
I presume the information sought in Question No. 216 relates to the cost of local calls in Ireland and in the other countries mentioned and this information is set out in the following table:
Time in Minutes/Cost
|
Time |
||||||
|
Country |
9 |
12 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
30 |
|
Ireland |
28.5 |
38 |
47.5 |
66.5 |
85.5 |
95 |
|
UK |
42 |
54 |
67 |
88 |
113 |
134 |
|
Denmark |
34 |
43 |
51 |
68 |
86 |
103 |
|
Italy |
16 |
16 |
21 |
26 |
37 |
42 |
|
Belgium |
20 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
50 |
|
Luxembourg |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
Germany |
19 |
19 |
28 |
38 |
47 |
47 |
|
France |
15 |
15 |
22 |
30 |
37 |
37 |
|
Netherlands |
16 |
16 |
22 |
27 |
38 |
44 |
|
Portugal |
9 |
9 |
13 |
17 |
22 |
22 |
|
Spain |
7 |
10 |
12 |
17 |
21 |
24 |
|
Greece |
4 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
11 |
13 |
|
USA |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
Australia |
11 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
