Many customers were shocked with the recent price hike from Eircom, a major telecommunications provider in Ireland.

Earlier this week, Eircom (News - Alert) announced that phone and broadband bills would jump by at least 3 percent from July 1. This move was criticized across the country.

Eircom announced that calls that exceed the terms of a customers phone package or bundle will be rounded up to the next minute.

Ireland's Consumer Association has expressed concern with the price hike.

As Eircom hikes bills by at least 3 percent, 4G WiMax provider Imagine announced it will keep phone and broadband price 50 percent cheaper.

As a result of this revolutionary announcement from Imagine, thousands of Eircom customers have switched to Imagine's cheaper phone and broadband network, Imagine officials said.

By switching to Imagine, Eircom WiMax customers are now automatically saving over EUR400 per year, in addition to benefiting from lower broadband and phone bills, they added.

Imagine is making high speed broadband available and affordable to consumers across Ireland with 30 new locations.

Imagine has launched WiMAX (News - Alert) in many areas of the country and is currently rolling out in 15 new towns each month offering a service that is priced at 50 percent cheaper than Eircom. Imagine has confirmed that WiMAX sales are exceeding expectations with thousands of people switching from Eircom to save money during the recession.

Dermott Jewell of Ireland's Consumer Association said that Eircom may have "shot themselves in the foot" with this price increase, as it will trigger consumers to switch to another provider.

Last week Eircom’s sales had slipped by 9 percent, and group revenues were down by EUR1.38 billion.