High Irish iPhone charges highlighted

Dublin- The o2 mobile phone company has defended subscription charges faced by Irish customers who sign up to use the Apple iPhone.
The usage limits on various tariffs in Ireland differ significantly to those available to o2 iPhone customers in Northern ireland.
There have been calls for a boycott of the devices when they go on sale next week until the discrepancies are addressed.
iPhone tariffs north and south of the border are divided into three price brackets. All customers have to sign up to an 18 month contract.
In Northern Ireland, users paying £35 sterling (€45.65) get 600 minutes of call time and 500 texts.
By contrast the basic €45 subscription here gives only 175 minutes and 100 texts.
Northern subscribers on the middle tariff of £45 (€58.70) get 1,200 minutes and 500 texts, compared to the 350 minutes and 150 texts for people paying €65 a month in Ireland.
The high end subscription of £75 sterling (€97.83) gives users 3,000 minutes of talk time and 500 texts. In the Republic of Ireland, o2's highest iPhone tariff costs €100 and gives 700 minutes and 250 texts per month.
In addition, Irish consumers using the iPhone to access the internet are subject to a 1gb data limit each month, before extra charges are applied, regardless of their subscription plan.
In the UK, users on all tariffs have unlimited data allowances.
The Cork based Cubic Telecom company says consumers in Ireland should demand that the tariff dirrerences are addressed.
It says the pricing structure for o2 customers here is unacceptable. The company plans to release a guide telling people how to buy iPhones outside of Ireland and unlock them to work on any network.
In response, o2 has defended the monthly charges it plans to introduce. In a statement this evening, the compnay said that while the price plans here varied to those on offer in the UK, they were comparable to those in other EU countries where the iPhone has been launched.
o2 claims the Irish tariffs represent excellent value, compared to other smart phone device offers currently on the marketplace in Ireland.
Tariffs in France and Germany - where the iPhone was launched last year - are broadly in line with those on offer in Ireland but users are entitled to unlimited data transfers as part of their subscriptions. o2 says the 1gb limit for Irish subscribers equates to a huge amount of data for the average user.