| Name | Eircom Smartphone |
| Date | C. 2001 |
| Manufacturer | Possibly IPM Group (Landis & Gyr) |
Development of the Eircom Smartphone
The Eircom Smartphone was an ambitious attempt to reinvent the public telephone for the Internet age. Introduced around 2000–01, it combined a conventional payphone with a multimedia Internet terminal, providing telephone, email and web access from public locations. Eircom itself described it as a “multimedia payphone” and also envisaged the large screen as a source of advertising revenue.
The substantial terminal featured a colour touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard, allowing customers to browse the web, check email, obtain travel information and read news or sports results. Payment could be made using Eircom Callcards, coins or credit cards, making it considerably more versatile than earlier dedicated cardphones.
Deployment was relatively limited. In 2001, Eircom reported that 60 Internet, email and fax-enabled units were operating on a trial basis, principally at airports, railway stations and bus stations. They were often installed alongside conventional Trilogy payphones, as shown in surviving photographs.
The Smartphone ultimately arrived at an awkward moment. Internet access was rapidly becoming desirable, but mobile-phone ownership was simultaneously exploding. High usage costs and reported reliability problems reduced its appeal; a 2003 discussion even records multiple terminals displaying blue error screens.
Today the Eircom Smartphone is an interesting example of the short-lived public Internet/payphone hybrid era, bridging traditional payphones and the later smartphone age.
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