Why are phones/plans so expensive in Ireland?

techdiver

Hi,

I've recently purchased a Nokia N900 from vodafone of bill pay. I went for the €45 per month plan which has 150 free minutes + 150 free texts and free vodafone to vodafone calls and texts. It also has a 2GB data plan included. The cost of the handset with the above plan was €329.

i have since checked the vodafone UK website for corresponding deals and was shocked to say the least! For a £40 plan in the UK you get 1200 free minutes and unlimited free texts!!!! The phone itself is also free!!!!!!

My question is, does anyone know why we are so ripped off in this regard in Ireland?

nmesisca

techdiver wrote: »

Hi,

I've recently purchased a Nokia N900 from vodafone of bill pay. I went for the €45 per month plan which has 150 free minutes + 150 free texts and free vodafone to vodafone calls and texts. It also has a 2GB data plan included. The cost of the handset with the above plan was €329.

i have since checked the vodafone UK website for corresponding deals and was shocked to say the least! For a £40 plan in the UK you get 1200 free minutes and unlimited free texts!!!! The phone itself is also free!!!!!!

My question is, does anyone know why we are so ripped off in this regard in Ireland?

welcome to Ireland!

/queue the 'higher costs' 'higher taxes' etc bandwagon /

techdiver

nmesisca wrote: »

welcome to Ireland!

/queue the 'higher costs' 'higher taxes' etc bandwagon /

I'm sure there will be those arguments alright, but that doesn't explain the stark difference between the prices and benefits I listed in my initial post.

I defy anyone to explain how high cost + tax etc can reconcile the difference between free and €329 euro for the handset.

nmesisca

techdiver wrote: »

I'm sure there will be those arguments alright, but that doesn't explain the stark difference between the prices and benefits I listed in my initial post.

I defy anyone to explain how high cost + tax etc can reconcile the difference between free and €329 euro for the handset.

it doesnt. but that wont stop the arguments.
people in ireland just... pay up.
sure most complain in a shy and private way, but they still fork the money at the end.
goes for phones and pretty much anything else overpriced.

techdiver

nmesisca wrote: »

it doesnt. but that wont stop the arguments.
people in ireland just... pay up.
sure most complain in a shy and private way, but they still fork the money at the end.
goes for phones and pretty much anything else overpriced.

True.

I would be just interested to see if anyone who actually works for the phone companies and/or who knows the inner workings, defend or explain their pricing strategy considering the much better value available across the water. Is it as above that we are a shower of mugs (me included), who just fork out the money and as such will be treated with contempt by these companies?

paulm17781

The argument "UK is a bigger market" will be put forth.

What I've never understood is how come the deals in the North are the same as Britain but we don't get the same here. There is surely little or no reason for this other than "because we can."

godskitchen

It is as simple as this, Ireland puts up with it. The UK has 5 main mobile operators, soon to be 4 with the coming together of T-Mobile and Orange. Ireland has 4 main operators, so competition can not be the answer.

Now I can see how a country the size of Ireland and its spread out population would add cost with masts but that is the only main difference in terms of infrastructure.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Italia

That's why I voted with my feet and bought my phone in the UK. If I could buy food & toiletries there, just as easily, I would.

I have a simple philosophy in life - shop around. If its too expensive locally, I buy elsewhere, where its not. Feelgood slogans like "buy local" mean absolutely nothing when I try and balance my accounts at month's end and my ever dwindling salary.

Sooner or later the lightbulb will switch on.....

Idleater

techdiver wrote: »

Hi,

I've recently purchased a Nokia N900 from vodafone of bill pay....



My question is, does anyone know why we are so ripped off in this regard in Ireland?

Wait a minute, you went into a shop, saw something for sale, paid for it, and then went onto the internet to complain about being ripped off?

Could you not have done some research first to determine if what you were buying could be bought elsewhere for cheaper. At the very least this would have meant you would have made an informed decision that either you do pay the asking, or you don't.

Prices are obviously so high here because shops know that people are willing to pay the prices. Just like you did.

Money is exchanged for goods and services, if you don't want the service don't pay for it. If you do want the service then you have do determine if you are willing to pay the asking price. I'm fairly sure there are other cheaper options than €45pm. Unless of course this is exactly what you require...

techdiver

nereid wrote: »

Wait a minute, you went into a shop, saw something for sale, paid for it, and then went onto the internet to complain about being ripped off?

Could you not have done some research first to determine if what you were buying could be bought elsewhere for cheaper. At the very least this would have meant you would have made an informed decision that either you do pay the asking, or you don't.

Prices are obviously so high here because shops know that people are willing to pay the prices. Just like you did.

Money is exchanged for goods and services, if you don't want the service don't pay for it. If you do want the service then you have do determine if you are willing to pay the asking price. I'm fairly sure there are other cheaper options than €45pm. Unless of course this is exactly what you require...

If you completely read my post you will see that I was stating that the same phone on bill pay in the UK in less. There is no avenue to purchase the phone cheaper in Ireland or as a sim free pack from elsewhere. I was drawing a direct comparison between the cost of the same handset on relatively similar price plans between Ireland and the UK.

I could not purchase the phone in the UK on the aforementioned plan as I would need to sign up to a bill pay contract in the UK which would be a non runner. Also I did plenty of research on the phone on all available networks. The cheapest price plan was €35 with vodafone which would give no free minutes and texts, so I decided to go for the €45 plan. O2, who I was with was charging me even more for the handset on an upgrade.

wildefalcon

meteor billpay does 200 minutes and 200 texts for 20euro (18 months)

Your choice.


Markets work on supply and demand, and are efficient when there are a lot of compeditors, and customers that shop around.

If people keep selecting the more expensive options, then the businesses will keep supplying them.

Next time, shop around. If vodafone had no customers at their prices they'd do something about it.

WildeFalcon

blaz

wildefalcon wrote: »

meteor billpay does 200 minutes and 200 texts for 20euro (18 months)

The only issue being that Meteor's network is at best flaky. I was on Meteor for almost a year but then switched to Vodafone because I couldn't stand the dropped calls, slow or no data, being unreachable with phone showing full signal, etc.

Yeah competition is great, but operators don't only compete on price. There is a reason why Meteor's prices are so much lower then the competitions and it is not that Meteor is so generous.

BaZmO*

House prices used to be mental in Ireland. Some people even bought more than one house. People have stopped buying houses. Now house prices have fallen dramatically.

People are still buying mobile phones. Some people are even buying more than one mobile phone........etc., etc. Doesn't take an economist to work out the rest!

techdiver

wildefalcon wrote: »

meteor billpay does 200 minutes and 200 texts for 20euro (18 months)

Meteor do not stock the particular phone I wanted and as another poster said they have still gotten an inferior network.

dogbert27

I was looking at the N97 mini before Christmas with Vodafone and it was coming in at €199. About a month ago it was coming in at €99. It's now showing at €79 euro on their website.

I guess if you were to wait another 4-6 months you'd be paying €200-250 for an N900.

I suppose it's up to the buyer in this country to decide when it's the right time to make a purchase (as somebody said, like buying a house) but that's on the handset only.

I agree that the minutes/free texts price plans are crap when compared to other countries but I don't know how you can change that. Using the house comparison, complaining about the bad value in price plans is equivalent to complaining about having one of the highest electricity costs in Europe.

angel01

Lack of decent competition mainly..

Idleater

techdiver wrote: »

If you completely read my post you will see that I was stating that the same phone on bill pay in the UK in less.

I read your post and as has been pointed out to you using this as a direct comparison is useless, why not pick Belgium, Italy or some other EU state where sim free phones must be made available.

techdiver wrote: »

There is no avenue to purchase the phone cheaper in Ireland or as a sim free pack from elsewhere.

There are plenty. What you are looking for someone to match a subsidised price on a non subsidised fully featured phone. See how that works out for you, here or abroad.

techdiver wrote: »

I was drawing a direct comparison between the cost of the same handset on relatively similar price plans between Ireland and the UK.

This has been explained to you why you are comparing apples and oranges.

techdiver wrote: »

I could not purchase the phone in the UK on the aforementioned plan as I would need to sign up to a bill pay contract in the UK which would be a non runner. Also I did plenty of research on the phone on all available networks.

This is the subsidised vs actual price argument again.

techdiver wrote: »

The cheapest price plan was €35 with vodafone which would give no free minutes and texts, so I decided to go for the €45 plan. O2, who I was with was charging me even more for the handset on an upgrade.

Funny how, I can get the n900 on my current o2 plan and that is not €45, nor even €35 per month.

tipptom

its not a matter of shopping around as meteor is indeed flakey or signal is non existant as i found out after been assured it would be ok in my area,our demand far outstrips the uk per capita and they know they just have to add the paddy tax as the bonus,can put up with price of phone but its the massive differential in minutes and free calls packages that really confirms the paddy tax,just today i was on to tesco about their ads for triple credit in uk while we are still on double,she didnt know,fair play to curreys at least,bought a 6 cu litres freezer for 170 delivered,the same as uk.

techdiver

nereid wrote: »

There are plenty. What you are looking for someone to match a subsidised price on a non subsidised fully featured phone. See how that works out for you, here or abroad.

No I'm not.
Vodafone Ireland subsidised price €329.
Vodafone UK subsidised price Free!

This has been explained to you why you are comparing apples and oranges.

I don't agree. Just because accept that there is no comparison between a Vodafone offering in the UK and here doesn't mean I have to.

This is the subsidised vs actual price argument again.

No it's not. Once again refer to my reply above regarding my comparison is between 2 subsidised offerings.

Funny how, I can get the n900 on my current o2 plan and that is not €45, nor even €35 per month.[/

The N900 is more expensive to purchase on O2. I could have spent €389 on it with my existing plan on O2, but that comes with no data plan and the data add on is €6.17 per month for a miserable 250MB of data.

100gSoma

Captain Morgan wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I think thats pretty much it. The same reason my Car insurance is 1k herei n Ireland and about 300euro in the UK. Bigger population equals bigger competition. Ireland is a closed shop really. In fact I'm surprised we even get the "deals" we do get.

BaZmO*

100gSoma wrote: »

I think thats pretty much it. The same reason my Car insurance is 1k herei n Ireland and about 300euro in the UK. Bigger population equals bigger competition. Ireland is a closed shop really. In fact I'm surprised we even get the "deals" we do get.

Then how come stuff in cheaper in Northern Ireland?

Mimikyu

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IKnowYou

In my opinion:
1. People that do not want to work (note: I don't say can't work) on social welfare could easily afford 45/month plans + 329 for the phone.

2. Most people don't realise n900 can be bought for about 400 euros sim free and assume Vodafone Ireland had already subsidised a substantial amount.

3. Vodafone Ireland has 2 shops, less than 500m apart in my street. Must've had a fun time ripping off customers.

4. Irish Mobile operators offer pathetic mobile phones in general. When a good phone comes along demand will be very high, thus they capitalise on that.

This post should be transfered to Rip-Off Ireland. Unless I'm getting social welfare, I'm out of this country as soon as possible

techdiver

IKnowYou wrote: »

2. Most people don't realise n900 can be bought for about 400 euros sim free and assume Vodafone Ireland had already subsidised a substantial amount.

The only place i could find such a price was on eBay. I did not find any official distribution point for the handset at that price.

Walkman

BaZmO* wrote: »

Then how come stuff in cheaper in Northern Ireland?

Maybe the fact that Northern Ireland is part of the UK has something to do with it???

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

partyatmygaff

IKnowYou wrote: »

In my opinion:
1. People that do not want to work (note: I don't say can't work) on social welfare could easily afford 45/month plans + 329 for the phone.

No they cannot.

2. Most people don't realise n900 can be bought for about 400 euros sim free and assume Vodafone Ireland had already subsidised a substantial amount.

I haven't seen it for anything less than 540 euro sim free.

3. Vodafone Ireland has 2 shops, less than 500m apart in my street. Must've had a fun time ripping off customers.

Everyone has to have a hobby I guess :pac:

4. Irish Mobile operators offer pathetic mobile phones in general. When a good phone comes along demand will be very high, thus they capitalise on that.

They offer fairly poor phones most of the time at expensive tariffs. Anything high end costs almost as much as it does sim free and not only that but price plans start at €40 for an 18 month contract.

100gSoma

BaZmO* wrote: »

Then how come stuff in cheaper in Northern Ireland?

It's part of the UK. The little bit of water between it and the mainland UK doesn't change the fact its part of a market economy/country with 62million people in it. Everything is cheaper. The networks in the UK don't have separate pricing and wenbsites in NI than mainland UK.

Skerries

€512 from Clove
http://www.clove.co.uk/viewProduct.aspx?product=E2F130C6-F96B-4EB2-99A7-B603C85D55A1

partyatmygaff

Skerries wrote: »

€512 from Clove
http://www.clove.co.uk/viewProduct.aspx?product=E2F130C6-F96B-4EB2-99A7-B603C85D55A1

Add shipping and you get €540.