Eircom on Wednesday dropped the ‘com’ from its name to become ‘eir’, a move the Irish incumbent says better reflects the changing nature of the telecoms sector.
Eir revealed it was working on a rebrand at the beginning of September.
The change will see the telco’s consumer and business divisions operate under the new brand, while the wholesale and network business units will use the name ‘Open eir’. The names of the company’s product lines – eMobile, eVision, and eFibre – have been replaced by eir Mobile, eir Vision, and eir Fibre.
The change will not affect eir’s Meteor mobile unit, which will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the eir Group.
"We have changed and our customer focus is changing. The evolution of the products and services that we offer to our customers continues at pace," said eir CEO Richard Moat, in a statement. "The speed of our ongoing network investment brings the people of Ireland closer to each other and brings Ireland closer to the world."
Indeed, the €16 million rebranding exercise coincided with the launch of a 1-Gbps fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service in 15 communities.
"With 1,000-Mbps broadband, we are making a bold statement about our ambition – not just in the sector but as one of Ireland’s largest companies that has touch points in every community," Moat said.
"It is the latest in a growing list of achievements," he claimed, which also includes Ireland’s first 4G network, and the roll out of quad-play bundles of TV, broadband, mobile and fixed telephony services.
Eir also plans to improve customer service with the impending launch of a 24/7 technical support line.
"I t is all part of our desire to improve the experience for our customers, making it easier to interact with us digitally or over the phone," said Moat.
All 63 of eir’s shops now sport the new name, and the telco plans to drive its updated message with a publicity campaign consisting of 6,000 TV adverts, 4,500 radio ads, 2,100 posters and 80 million online impressions.
