Mobile operator O2 lost 3,000 customers in the three months to the end of June, the company said yesterday.
Figures released by the company for the period show that it lost 11,000 pre-paid customers during the three-month period, but signed up 8,000 new bill-paying subscribers, leaving it with a total loss of 3,000 on the previous three months.
Overall numbers stood at 1.53 million at the end of June, compared with 1.533 at the end of March. However, it had 1.395 million at end of June 2004, leaving it with a near 10 per cent gain for the year.
The figures show that the group is continuing to earn more cash from its Irish users than those in the UK and Germany.
In the year to the end of June 2005, the average Irish customer spent £391 (€571) on its services. British users spent an average of £271 each while its German consumers spent £244.
However, bigger gaps emerge between Irish bill-paying customers, which include large numbers of business users, and those in Germany and Britain.
In the year to the end of June, O2 charged the average Irish bill-paying customer £787 or €1,149. Its services cost the comparable German customer £361, less than half, over the same period. British bill-paying subscribers paid €523.
Pre-paid Irish customers spent £244 or €357 each during the same time. This was more than 150 per cent more than their German counterparts, who were charged £95. O2 charged British pre-paid customers an average of £137 over the period.
The company has consistently said that the big gaps between average revenues it earns from Irish customers and those in the UK and Germany are explained by the fact that those in the Republic use their mobiles more than those in the other jurisdictions.
The company said that the Irish pre-paid average of €357 was down slightly on the €361 recorded at the end of June. However, average earnings from bill-payers continued to grow, increasing to €1,149 from €1,053.
In the Republic, this left its overall average revenue per user (ARPU) for the period at €571, compared with €556 in 2004.
