Mobile network Meteor pushed subscriber numbers past the 250,000 mark for the first time in the third quarter of the year, its multinational owner said yesterday.

US telecoms group Western Wireless said Meteor added 29,500 customers during the three months to the end of September, ending the quarter with 251,600 subscribers.

It said this was an increase of 28 per cent over net customer gains during the same period in 2003.

It was also ahead of the 22,900 customers signed up during the three months to the end of June 2004.

However, the multinational did not reveal revenue figures for its Irish subsidiary and gave no indication if the business was profitable, when it released global third-quarter figures yesterday.

Western Wireless chairman and chief executive Mr John Stanton said the company was not going to proceed immediately with its plan to spin off the division that includes the Irish company, Western Wireless International.

A Meteor spokesman would not comment yesterday on the implications of this statement for the recent interest in buying the company expressed by fixed-line player, Eircom.

Commenting on the results themselves, Meteor chairman Mr Brad Horwitz said that it had its strongest quarter of customer growth since 2001 and had grown its customer base by 61 per cent since the same period in 2003.

Mr Horwitz, who is also president of Western Wireless International, said the company's network in Dublin was largely complete and that it was making good progress with completing national coverage.

Meteor limited its initial coverage to urban areas when it launched in 2001. It has subsequently had to deal with a perception that it had poor coverage even though it has continued to roll-out its network.

Its chief executive, Mr Robert Haulbrook, argued that the new subscriber numbers suggested that it was overcoming its poor reputation.

The company also signed a roaming deal with competitor, O2, in September.

Mr Haulbrook and Mr Horwitz yesterday said consumers had responded well to the improved coverage. "Number portability figures are also strong, with Meteor gaining customers at a four-to-one ratio from the other operators," Mr Haulbrook said.