The average bill paid for broadband, TV and smartphone use in Ireland is considerably down on 2013, with both bundled and non-bundled packages seeing drops of varying amounts, according to a new report.

The ICT Consumer Survey, conducted by Red C for ComReg, looks at everything from consumer sentiment to knowledge and price. ComReg’s latest peek into the lives of consumers revealed that, among other things, monthly landline and broadband bundles are, on average, €51 a pop now, down from €57 in 2013, with landline, broadband and TV bundles (€88) down €4 in the same time.

Landlines on their own are €45 (€49 in 2013), mobile contracts €29 (€36) and mobile broadband €27 (€33), with only fixed broadband (€36) remaining the same in the two years.

Savings everywhere

That equates to massive savings, with more than €70 saved on some bundles, €84 on phone contracts and €72 on mobile data plans throughout the year.

It turns out just one-fifth of us receive higher-than-expected bills, compared to over a third two years ago, with too many voice calls primarily to blame for this.

Indeed, a third of us (down 6pc on 2013) get those ‘you are close to exceeding your data allowance’ warning texts, with almost half of us then continuing on eating up data regardless.

Three, it’s the magic number

Three is the overwhelmingly dominant mobile broadband provider in the country, representing 59pc of the entire market, bolstered by its purchase of O2 for around €850m last year.

Over a third of us have switched mobile phone service providers, primarily because prices elsewhere (as new operators enter the market) come on stream.

Despite the changes, though, one-third of us are with the same operator for more than three years, meaning the upgrades are keeping us sweet.

Eircom is the country’s dominant broadband provider, representing 35pc of the whole market, although its advantage over UPC is decreasing. Sky, though, is the main winner, after rising from just 1pc of the market in 2013 up to 12pc now.

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