eir customers stream almost three-quarters of a million hours of movies and shows on Christmas Day

• 50% increase of data usage on Christmas Day 2021 vs 2020

• Christmas Eve marks busiest day for phone calls by eir customers nationwide

eir, the principal provider of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services in Ireland, has revealed their customers’ usage insights over the Christmas period 2021. From December 24th – 28th this year, the eir mobile network recorded significant increases in usage and demand for their network, across voice, data and mobile services including a staggering 50% increase in network data usage on Christmas Day of this year in comparison to 2020. 

Online streaming services are firmly cemented as an integral part of the Irish Christmas Day experience, with eir customers streaming the equivalent of almost three-quarter of a million hours (730,000) of Netflix shows on Christmas Day alone. Overall, the festive period (December 24th- 28th) recorded a 44% increase in network data usage versus the same period in 2020, with the single busiest day for online services taking place on December 28th.  

Christmas is about catching up with friends and family and phone calls remain an inherent part of Christmas as customers connect with loved ones over the festive period. Christmas Eve was the busiest day for a Christmas catch-up chat. On Christmas Eve 14.85 million minutes worth of voice calls were logged, and more than 57 million minutes of calls took place over the festive period. The demand for phone calls continue to rise with eir recording a 7% increase in service use between December 24th – 28th this year compared to the same period in 2020. 

It wasn’t just the demand for data that increased as new mobile handsets continued to top Christmas lists around the country – the iPhone 13 and Samsung Galaxy S21 were the most popular bill-pay handsets for Christmas ’21, while the Samsung A22 and OPPO A54 were the top selling 5G pre-pay handsets this year. 

Carolan Lennon, eir CEO says “Again this year staying connected is all the more important when so many of us can’t be together. The usage trends of eir’s network over the Christmas period provide interesting insights to help us understand the demand on different elements of the network and ensure we are delivering the best service possible for our customers. We continue to see usage increase across the board on all our services and we’re pleased to be able to support our customers in connecting during what has been a difficult Christmas for many. eir has ambitious plans for 2022 and we look forward to continuing investing and expanding Ireland’s largest 5G network and fibre rollout programme to enhance our customer experience every day.”