O2 to carry iPhone in Ireland

Irish consumers are not happy at O2's iPhone deals

O2 will be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone when it launches in Ireland on 14 March, but consumers are not pleased with the package.

The Apple handset, available as an 8GB model for £399 (inc VAT) and a 16GB model for £499 (inc VAT), will be sold through O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores. O2 has exclusive rights to the phone in Ireland, as it does in the UK.

The iPhone will be available on three tariffs, starting at £45 per month. All three include anytime minutes, texts and a 1GB data bundle.

But Irish consumers are not happy at what they believe is an expensive deal. They will get 175 minutes of call time and 100 texts on the lowest cost tariff compared to the UK's 600 minutes and 500 texts.

The 1GB cap is also unpopular, as UK and US customers get unlimited use within fair use limits. Irish users will have to pay two cents per megabyte if they exceed the cap, and will also not get free Wi-Fi as in the UK.