Since December 2021 – only the 0818 prefix will be used. The 0818 prefix has replaced ALL 1890 , 1850 and 076 numbers
More here about calls to 0818 numbers
All the following information relates to pre December 2021
The charge for calling 1890, 1850, 0818 and 076 numbers from a landline or mobile is now the same as calling any other geographic number ( i.e any landline) .
In December 2019 , COMREG made telecom providers in Ireland include 1890 numbers in all call bundles.
Most phone providers did not include 1890 numbers in free call bundles before Dec 2019.
See more about the ComReg changes here.
If your phone service contract or “bundle” includes free calls to landlines – then 1890 calls will also now be included in the free call minutes.
This includes calls made from mobiles and landlines. More details Here
If you are pay as you go – then 1890 calls will be charged at the same rate as a call to any other landline.
1890 Call Charges Before December 2019
These “lo-call” 1890 numbers were introduced years ago when all we had was Eircom landlines with no bundles of free call minutes. The rate was meant to be the equivalent of a local call which was cheaper than a “national” call.
The problem was that all of the mobile networks and the landline providers we looked at didn’t include 1890 numbers in their bundled “free” calls – so you ended up paying for them even when you had unlimited call minutes included in your plan.
Figures from Comreg show that Irish telecoms providers generated an average income of €17.9 million a year from 1890 calls. (Based on the figures from 2011 to 2015) . If these calls were included in “bundles” – their revenue from them would probably be cut by around a third.
How Much Did it Cost to Ring an 1890 “Lo Call” number before December 2019?
(Rate shown in cents per minute at peak times -)
Landlines
Virgin Landline 4c (plus 9.5c set up fee)
Vodafone Landline 4.5c (9.8c setup fee)
Eir Landline 5.2c (plus 9.6c call setup fee)
Imagine 5.2c (9.6c call setup)
Pure Telecom 7.9c
Mobile Networks
Tesco Mobile 15c
eir Mobile 15c
Virgin 25c
Postfone 25c (minimum 25c per call)
Three 34 c (PAYG)
Vodafone Mobile 30c
A 30-minute daytime call to an 1890 number from a Three PAYG mobile would have cost €10.00 before Dec 2019. What’s “lo call” about that?
Read about price of 1850 Calls Here
More about cost of calls to 0818 numbers here..
Updated Dec 2021