How it works

The callcosts.ie website provides you with a comparison of the cost of broadband price plans based on the details you enter regarding your broadband requirements. It is an indicative tool that may assist you in choosing a particular price plan, either with your existing provider, or indeed, a new service provider. When choosing a broadband provider you may also wish to consider factors other than price that may be important to you.

It is important to note that availability of broadband can vary by location. On callcosts you can filter results to check whether a particular broadband service is available in your county. There is also a link to the broadband provider's website where more specific availability information can be obtained. There are three simple steps to complete:

Step 1: Enter details regarding your broadband requirements

This is the initial step on the broadband calculator. You are first asked to indicate whether you wish to compare ‘always on’ or 'time based' broadband tariff options. With always on plans your monthly charge is fixed regardless of the amount of time you are connected to the internet. Time based broadband plans include a set amount of hours for you to connect to the internet. Once you go beyond this you pay for additional time connected. If you select ‘don’t mind’ your comparison will provide details on both plan types.

You next need to indicate your broadband usage details. You are asked what download speed you require. If you are not sure just select the don’t mind option. You may also be asked to enter the amount of time you spend online per month.

A final consideration is whether you want the cost of telephone line rental factored into your calculation. This question is asked because many broadband services require a telephone line to operate and therefore this cost is relevant to your comparison. For these types of broadband services callcosts will always include the line rental cost in your calculation. However, it should be noted that some broadband services such as wireless and cable broadband don’t require a telephone line to operate so you can choose to exclude this cost.

You are now ready to view a comparison of broadband plans and to do this you click on the ‘Get Results’ button.

Step 2: Get Results

Once you have entered your usage details and clicked on the 'Get Results Now' button you are provided with a list of broadband price plans ranked according to their average monthly cost in light of the usage details you entered.

As well as the monthly cost the results screen includes important information about each price plan such as download speed, contention rates, contract length, customer service hours and billing and payment options.

There are filters available on this screen that allow you to sort the tariffs by operator or based on general availability in your county. Please note: You can filter your result by county, however, this does still not mean that the broadband service is defintively available in your location. To confirm availability you will need to check with the broadband service provider. There is a link on the results page over to the operators website if you wish to confirm availability in your area.

Having viewed each broadband option you can then look at more specific details on any of the tariffs featured in the results screen you can do this by clicking on the particular 'Tariff Name'

Step 3: View the broadband price plan details

This is the final step in the broadband calculator. Here you can look at specific details of a serivce provider's price plan. This page includes pricing, general customer service details and operator contact details as well as other relevant information.

Whilst the website tries to capture important details about a price plan it is advised that you confirm all terms and conditions with the broadband provider before signing up to any contract.