By Mark Kane

January 7th 2016

 

Moving to Ireland which phone provider is for you in 2016

Moving abroad for a new jobs in Ireland can be stressful, and deciding on which mobile provider can be tricky. Odds are you didn’t account for international rates on calls and data so we decided help with your preperation before credit card gets lighter.  

 

We have chosen the four most popular providers active in Ireland to choose from.They all have coverage in Dublin, Cork and Dundalk.

These are:

 

·         Meteor

·         Three

·         Vodafone

·         Lycamobile

 

Maybe you know some of these or you are currently using on of these but maybe there is a better provider there for you. All simcards are free for these providers.

 

We have kept in mind the following in determining which mobile provider is the best.

 

·         Good rates Call/Text

·         Cheap Internet

·         Cheap Bundles

·         Good coverage

·         International calling?



Meteor

If you have come to Ireland for jobs in Dublin, you probably have seen some Meteor shops around here and there. Meteor is owned by Eir and is one of the biggest providers in Ireland. When you have been a member with Meteor you are able to make use of the Meteor Extras. This could be a free movie or a Dinner.

 

Rates: Meteor offers no standard rates, the only way to make use out of there network is to top up and opt into a top up plan. This is done very easy and should give no problems.

 

Bundles: Within Meteor there are 2 ways of getting bundles a top-up for a prepaid card or a sim-only plan. The difference between the two is the length of the contract. The top-up is paid for every 31 days and the Sim only plans are 6 months.

Top Ups:

Price	€10	€20	€30
Data:	7.5GB	15GB	15GB
Calls:	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Text:	-	Unlimited	Unlimited
Total:	Either Data or Calls	Data and calls, Data and Texts Calls and Texts	All of the above

 

 

Sim only:

Price:	€12	€20	€24	€31.20
Data	2GB	4GB	10GB	30GB
Calling	100 minutes	400 Minutes	Unlimited	Unlimited
Unlimited texts	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Contract	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days
Free calls/texts Meteor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extras	Meteor	Meteor	Meteor	Meteor and international extras

 

International: There is the possibility to set up international calling with Meteor for the USA and 45 other countries for 15 cents a minute.

Coverage: The coverage of Meteor is excellent, being inside and outside are no problem for the coverage of Meteor. Meteor does have probably the second best network in Ireland

 

Three

Three is the provider in Ireland you would want because of the Data/Internet. Three is the only provider that offers unlimited Data. Working in the Tech industry in Cork could take up a lot of your data. So for those with a job in Cork is is a good choice.

 

Rates:

 

Calls for 35 cents per minute

Text for 15 cents per minute

Voicemail 15 cents per minute

Internet: €1.01 per MB

 

Bundles:  Three also has 2 options to get bundles with top up and sim only.

 

Top ups:

Price:	€5	€10/€15	€20
Data:	100 MB	200MB	All you can eat
Calls:	-	-	Unlimited
Text:	-	50 texts free	Unlimited
Total	Keep all your top up	Keep all your Top up	Keep your €20 top up

 

Sim only

Price: 30 day	€25.41	€39.75	€20.33	€35.58
Flexi-units	350	Unlimited	300	500
Unlimited Data	Yes	Yes	No	No
4g	Yes	Yes	No	No
1 freebie add-on	No	Yes	No	No
Unlimited calls	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

 

 

International: Three offers no international package available, they have high rates for international calling. You can find full list of prices here

 

Coverage: Threes coverage is fine; however sometimes inside the signal might be a bit too weak. However consider often inside there is Wi-Fi available.

 

Vodafone

Vodafone is the more international provider and probably the biggest provider in this list. However does this also make them the best player in the market to choose from?

 

Rates:

Calling to numbers in Ireland for 45 cent per minute at peak time and 25 cents per minute of peak.

Texting 13ct per text message

Voicemail: Free

Data: €1.99per day for 100 MB, then €1 per MB thereafter

 

Bundles:

 

Top-ups

Price	€10	€20	€30
Unlimited texts	Yes	Yes (Vodafone)	Yes
Unlimited Calls	-	Yes (Vodafone)	Yes
4G	-	Yes	Yes
Data		5GB/250MB/250MB	3 GB/ 500MB/ 500MB
Keep top up	-	€10 or €20	0 or €30
Total		5GB and Vodafone calls,   Unlimited texts to every network and 250 MB,   Unlimited calls and texts to Vodafone numbers and 250 MB.	Unlimited calls and texts to every network with 3 GB of data,   Unlimited texts 500MB 100 international minutes,   Unlimited Vodafone Calls and Texts 500MB and 100 international minutes.

Sim Only

 

Price	€30 (30 days)	€35 (12 months)
Calls	Unlimited	Unlimited
Texts	Unlimited	Unlimited
Data	3 GB	5 GB
4g Access	Yes	Yes
Extras	No	100 international minutes and texts

 

International: Vodafone also has the ability to call in- and outside Europe for 15 cents a minute or 13 cents per text. IF you top up €30 in one go you will receive 100 free international minutes and 500 mb extra.

Coverage: Vodafone has the best coverage of all providers in this list with excellent coverage in whole of the Republic of Ireland. Vodafone has almost everywhere excellent coverage and some “only” good spots.

Lycamobile

Lycamobile is the one you will see on every small and shady shop all over Ireland but also in some bigger shops. This is because the sim is free available everywhere.

 

Rates:

 

Calling 9 cents per minute to Irish land lines, free to other Lycamobile numbers and 29 cents to other numbers.

Text: free to other Lycamobile numbers but 15 cents to others.

Voicemail: 9 cents per minute

Internet: 9 cents per MB

 

Bundles

Price 30 days	€15	€9	€14	€20	€23
Calls	Unlimited	300 minutes	500 minutes	Unlimited	Unlimited
Texts	Unlimited	300 minutes	500 minutes	Unlimited	Unlimited
Data	6 GB	1 GB	3 GB	5 GB	15 GB

International: Lycamobile is the provider you want for international calls, because you can activate the international bundle and could call to your home land for one cent per minute. So the rates could not be an excuse not to call your mother.

 

Coverage: The coverage of Lycamobile is okay and is probably the number 3 on this list. However Lycamobile does not offer 4g connection yet. So the speed is not the quickest, however connection is okay everywhere.

So what is your best Provider to choose from?

So you have found jobs in Dublin but what is the provider to choose from to get the most out of your experience in Ireland.

 

Overall our favourite is the Meteor top-ups. They tend to give the most for your money and their network coverage is great with its fast 4G. The Data bundle is huge with 15GB and should be enough to survive on a month. For international calls Lycamobile should be your number one choice. Luckily all simcards are free so you could switch between them very easily so you have the best of both worlds.