Meteor Mobile Communications
 |
|
Type |
Private |
| Industry |
Mobile telecommunications |
| Founded |
1998 |
| Headquarters |
1HSQ, Dublin, D08 A9RT, Ireland |
|
Key people |
Larry Smith's (CEO) term ended in 2010 after Eircom and Meteor's retail operations were integrated. |
| Products |
Mobile phone network, mobile phone services & related goods |
| Revenue |
€388 million (June 2007) |
|
Number of employees |
~800 |
| Parent |
eir |
| Website |
www.meteor.ie |
Meteor Mobile Communications Limited is a GSM and UMTS mobile telecommunications company in Ireland. They operate a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS(HSPA+) and LTE cellular communications network under licence from the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), and were the third entrant in the market, after Vodafone Ireland and Three Ireland. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Irish telecoms network Eir, having been purchased for €420m in 2005. Meteor is the only Irish owned mobile operator in Ireland.
Meteor issue new numbers with the prefix code 085. Since the introduction of full mobile number portability in Ireland, access codes have become less relevant as mobile telephone users may now retain their mobile telephone numbers when moving between mobile network operators. As a result, Meteor customers can now have numbers starting with the codes 083, 085, 086, 087, or 089.
As of September 2008, Meteor has over 1 million customers, or 20% of the market.
In 1998, the then Director of Telecommunications Regulation held a competition to award the third mobile telecommunications licence. Two companies submitted bids for the licence, Orange, then controlled by Hutchinson Whampoa, and Meteor Mobile Communications (consisting at that point of Western Wireless, RF Communications Limited, and TWG Ireland LLC). On 19 June 1998 it was announced that Meteor had been ranked first in the competition. However, Orange took legal action against the Director to prevent the licence being awarded. This legal action ultimately failed and on 29 June 2000 Meteor were finally issued with the third mobile telecommunications licence.
