About Irish Callcards


The Trial Callcards

The Trial Callcards

Telecom Eireann initially rolled out three different Callcard trials, throughout the years 1988-1989. The phonecard types trialled at the time were the cheaper, more typically used magnetic strip cards. The exception being the Galway trial that used the more secure optical tracking strip[...][...]

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Test, maintenance and dummy Callcards

Test, maintenance and dummy Callcards

Throughout the years, many different cards were produced for testing, maintenance or demonstration purposes[...][...]

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About the chipped Callcards

About the chipped Callcards

When the three Callcard trials ended, Telecom Eireann chose to use chip based smart cards for their phonecard product instead. The smart card, invented by French engineer Roland Moreno in 1976 was the most secure, and technologically advanced phonecard system in it's day. Interestingly Ireland was one of the first countries in the world to introdu[...]

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The Christmas Callcards

The Christmas Callcards

Both Telecom Eireann and Eircom released special Christmas Callcards each year. These Christmas themed Callcards were issued to the general public starting in 1992 and ending in 2000 wishing their customers a Happy Christmas and New Year. Early on, Telecom Eireann provided a special envelope/cardboard sleeve with the Callcard in an attempt to targ[...]

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The Simply Talk definitive range

The Simply Talk definitive range

In the early 2000s Eircom decided to change the Callcards value representation from "Units" to cash values. It is thought that this change was meant to offer better value for customers, as well as offering a easier to follow value representation[...][...]

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