IRISH smartphone users are set to pay up to 60pc more for 4G mobile phone data than British smartphone owners on the same networks.

A basic 1GB service, offering all calls and texts, looks set to cost €15 more per month here than in the UK on both Vodafone and O2. The price gap between similar packages on 3 Ireland is also likely to remain at up to €19 per month.

Yesterday, operators Vodafone and O2 released pricing details for their 4G services in Britain. The tariffs, which are a strong indicator of how Irish 4G tariffs will be set, show a large gap in the price of Irish and UK data charges, with Irish smartphone users charged up to 60pc more for the same basic package.

4G services, which enable mobile broadband speeds of up to five times that of current smartphones and tablets, are due to be launched in Ireland next month.

The technology has also been touted as part of a solution to improve rural broadband availability.

Vodafone and Eircom, which owns Meteor and eMobile, are currently battling to launch first with 3 Ireland set to follow between October and December. Vodafone is set to launch in Kilkenny, with Dublin, with other cities to follow soon after. Meteor is currently conducting final trials in Dublin, Athlone, Carlow and parts of Galway.

O2 may not launch its 4G service until after Christmas because of its impending €780m acquisition by 3 Ireland.

Mobile operators have long argued that higher Irish prices are a reflection of local trading conditions and a tendency among Irish people to talk more than British people.

However, consumer advocacy groups accuse multinational mobile operators of historically charging Irish customers more to subsidise larger British networks run by the same companies.

HIGH-END

4G services are capable of delivering internet download speeds of up to 60 megabits per second (Mbs), roughly equivalent to the fibre speeds available from fixed-line operators such as UPC.

They require a special mobile sim card, which works with a 4G-enabled smartphone or tablet. At present, most high-end smartphones – such as Apple's iPhone 5 or Samsung's Galaxy S4 – are 4G-enabled.

Irish Independent