Model Assumptions

In providing a comparison of broadband tariff plans a small number of assumptions are required. The purpose of these assumptions are to ensure that the result provided is comparable across tariff plans featured on the site. These assumptions are listed below:

Telephone line rental charges for DSL plans

The most popular broadband service at present are DSL based broadband services. To avail of any DSL broadband service you must also have a telephone line and this means that you will need to pay telephone line rental charges. As such the callcosts model assumes

that line rental charges will always be part of the calculation for a DSL plan
if there are any other mandatory monthly fees for example you must also sign up to a plan that offers unlimited local and national calls, then these will also need to be included with the line rental charge.
if a DSL broadband provider does not provide a telephone line then the eircom standard line rental charge will always be added to their calculation

Telephone line rental for non-DSL plans

Some broadband services do not need a telephone line to operate however when informing your decision about a broadband service you may wish to see the total cost of maintaining a telephone service and a broadband service. To this end callcosts allows you to choose whether you wish to include or exclude a telephone line rental for broadband services that don’t require a telephone line to operate. If you choose to include a line rental charge then the standard eircom line rental charge is included.

Monthly charges for cable broadband

Operators who provide broadband services over cable may require that you also take out their TV service, if you wish to avail of their broadband service. For this reason the monthly charges for a basic TV service, if applicable, are also included.

Average monthly cost (based on 12 months usage)

The result you are provided with on the callcosts broadband calculator is an average monthly cost. This means once off charges such as connection charges and equipment charges are averaged over 12 months. In addition any savings as a result of free /reduced monthly rental offers are averaged over 12 months.