Irish telecoms operator Eircom yesterday announced plans to increase the prices it charges residential and business customers from April.

The operator said the monthly subscription fee for residential customers, including those who have double, triple or quad-play bundles – including voice, broadband, mobile and TV – will increase by between €2 and €8, including VAT, depending on the customer’s specific bundle.

For business customers, the monthly increase will be between €3 and €10, excluding VAT. The increase for each customer will depend on which plan/bundle the customer is on.

Eircom said the average increase per month to a residential customer’s bill is fewer than €5 and the average increase per month to a business customer’s bill is fewer than €9.

“This is the first time in four years that we have announced a price change that impacts the majority of our customers,” said Jon Florsheim, managing director of Eircom’s consumer division.

“We are doing more than any other operator in the market to invest in infrastructure, to provide new and innovative services, and to offer real value to our customers.

“Over the last three years, we have invested €1bn of our €1.5bn investment commitment, and our high-speed fibre broadband rollout continues at pace.

“A key priority for us is that our services are affordable, accessible and relevant. We have approximately 830,000 fixed line customers across the country and regardless if a customer lives in central Dublin or rural Ireland, their business is important to us,” Florsheim said.