Orange will target "top-tier" mobile phone users if it wins the Republic's third licence, offering a range of value-added services and benefits, the company said yesterday.

It had already secured 250 provisional site agreements around the State in anticipation of running the new service and was seeking an Irish chief executive and management team, the firm added.

The company said it had negotiated agreements to build base stations on property controlled by RTE, CIE and the ESB.

The potential sites represented some 40 per cent of the masts it would need to provide the network and the company had already made contact with both Eircell and Esat Digifone to discuss sharing other mast locations.

"Eircell had a much more positive attitude on site sharing than Esat," commented Mr Hans Snook, Orange's group managing director.

Mr Snook also allowed glimpses at what Orange's planned marketing strategy for the Republic might be, stressing not lower prices and a broadened customer base, but better quality service, more customer care and more "extras" such as a second, independent line for each handset.

He said Orange had half the rate of churn - customers that leave - of its rivals in Britain and tended to aim its advertising and its attention at better-off business users who use their phones more.

With Meteor, the other company that wants the licence, promising to tempt non-business customers with lower tariffs, the choice before the telecoms regulator Ms Etain Doyle has become clearer. Her decision is expected late next month.

Orange also stressed its commitment to cutting-edge technology yesterday, unveiling new compression software.