Eircom have announced that they are to enter the TV market in Ireland with their new “eVision” service. The service will be offered to customers who are already signed up to “eFibre” broadband which Eircom claim is now available to over 500K people nationwide, with a million people being covered by the middle of next year.

The entry level “Essential” pack will consist of 34 channels and cost just €10 per month. Customers will have to agree to an 18 month contract, which is long by TV contract standards, but to ease the pain Eircom are offering the first 6 months of the TV package for free.

Additional channel packages such as Sky Sports and Sky Movies will be available at an extra monthly cost and there will also be an HD option available

All the usual features that you’d expect in a modern set top box are included such as an electronic program guide, pause and rewinding live TV and the ability to record and series link up to 240 hours of standard definition programs. You can get a feel for how the whole UI works in the clip below.

Eircom are aiming to be the first provider in Ireland to offer a “Quad-Play” service of Phone, Mobile, Broadband and TV all in the one package. Prices will start at €60 per month for all 4 which is a pretty impressive pricing. UPC for example are offering 3 of the 4 services for €50 per month for the first 6 months, rising to €73 per month after that. UPC have indicated lately that they are also in the process of launching their own mobile service and will no doubt compete with Eircom on price then, but for now, Eircom are the only one stop shop for all the services.