Before Callcards became an iconic symbol of nineties Ireland, an advanced trial and rollout took place by Telecom eireann in the late eighties. This roll out saw trials conducted in cities Dublin, Galway and Limerick. Pictured: Old Irish cardphone along with Third Gemplus demonstration card. Photo credits: Greg Clarke The cards tested during these trials relied on magnetic and optical strips which held the credit or “units”. Introducing the chipped Callcard After the short 2 year trial Telecom Eireann decided to test the relatively new chip based smartcard technology for their Callcards. These cards were durable, modern and most importantly more secure. In a bold move by Telecom Eireann Ireland became one of the first countries in the world to implement chipped phonecards. These cards were more expensive to produce than magnetic or optical cards. Prior to the nationwide Cardphone rollout many cards were produced by different manufacturers to test that their cards would be compatible. ...

A photograph from 20 years ago (Aug '94) with Telecom Eireann's Cardphone branding. Credit: Sludge G/Flickr Throughout the years Telecom Eireann and Eircom implemented four different Cardphone hardware models. Initially starting off with separate coinphones and cardphones Eircom was to later bring out a hybrid coin and card payphone, which is still in use today. The Cardphone manufacturers used over the years were produced by both Schlumberger and Landis and Gyr. In the image to the left you will see a Telecom Eireann cardphone. This is identifiable by the yellow sign. This sign stated "Telecom Eireann Cardphone - Calls without coins". Four different models supporting are known to have been used by Telecom Eireann and later Eircom. Schlumberger Access 110 Cardphone The Schlumberger Access 110 with a green colour scheme as used in Ireland. The Access 110 was the earliest cardphone for chip based Callcards Telecom Eireann introduced. The phone itself was produced by Schlumberger, the Fr...