The Republic's third mobile phone operator, Meteor, goes on stream next month.

Meteor announced yesterday it would launch its 085 network on February 22nd, with more than 50 per cent coverage of the population in major cities, urban areas and main routes throughout the State.

Analysts said Meteor's entry into the mobile market would reduce prices for Irish customers who currently pay among the highest prices in Europe.

The company will introduce a two-month incentive of half-price calls for customers who pre-register with Meteor from February 1st and subsequently buy a Meteor phone.

However, Mr Pete Quinn, chief operating officer at Meteor, said yesterday it would be unfair to say Meteor was adopting solely an aggressive pricing policy.

"We will try to come up with a complete package of services," he said, "although part of what happens when a third operator enters the market is that prices are reduced by anywhere between 5 and 40 per cent".

Mr Quinn would not confirm whether the company would introduce a WAP service to offer consumers a range of information services using Internet technologies.

Meteor will sell its mobile handsets at retail shops in Dublin, Cork and Galway and through other indirect distribution channels, said Mr Quinn.

A State-wide advertising campaign is scheduled to start today showing people how to register for the pre-registration offer.

Several analysts said yesterday Meteor would find it difficult to compete with Eircell and Esat Digifone, which already have 60 per cent of the public signed up to their networks. Meteor's arrival was delayed by more than a year following a protracted legal battle between mobile operator Orange and the telecoms regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, after Orange lost out to Meteor for the licence.

"The fact that they are so late coming to market, penetration is so high and they lost the Christmas market was damaging," said Mr Ultan Ryan, senior consultant with telecoms consultancy Mason Communications.

One Dublin-based analyst, who did not wish to be named, said the company would find it difficult to compete against operators owned by European based multinationals such as British Telecom and Vodafone.

Meteor's majority shareholder, Western Wireless, is a major player in the US and a peripheral operator in Europe with licences in Iceland, Slovenia, Croatia and Georgia.

However, Mr Quinn said strong demand over Christmas proved there was still very strong demand for the product. "The world is changing and the old concept about penetration rates are not valid," he added.

By the end of 2001, Meteor will have invested between £150-£200 million (€118-€158 million) in its operation in the Republic.