Vodafone Ireland subscribers spend more on mobile services than customers in any of its other international subsidiaries.

The firm's 1.88 million customers spend on average €592 a year on calls, an increase of €9 on the figure reported in April.

The strong performance by Vodafone Ireland during the past quarter helped it to leapfrog its Japanese subsidiary as the biggest revenue generator per user. After a poor quarter, Vodafone Japan's average revenue per user fell €17.50 to €586 due to competition in the business market.

Vodafone's Irish customers spend €116 more on mobile services than their British counterparts and €282 more than subscribers to Vodafone Germany.

A Vodafone Ireland spokeswoman said the results reflected that people were using their mobiles and in no way indicated that Irish prices were too high.

"We are fourth lowest in Europe for pre-pay mobile tariffs and at the European average for post-paid. . . Irish people use their phones up to 50 per cent more than other Europeans," she said.

The Vodafone Group is the biggest international operator of mobile phone services, with operations spanning 26 countries.

Vodafone Ireland added 18,000 new customers during the quarter, bringing its total customer base to 1.88 million. This represents an addition of 116,000 customers over the past year.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Ireland announced yesterday a 33 per cent reduction in the fees that it charges other telecoms firms to terminate calls on its network at the weekend. The reduction is due to take effect from September 1st.

Eircom confirmed yesterday it would pass on the cheaper termination rates to consumers when the cost of calling a Vodafone mobile will fall to 11.57 cents per minute, down from 15.23 cents.

Mr Paul Donovan, Vodafone Ireland chief executive, said Vodafone had reduced mobile termination rates overall by 32 per cent, or by more than 50 per cent in real terms since 2000.

"This move ensures that Ireland is one of the cheapest countries in Europe for fixed network to mobile network calls," he said.

The Commission for Communications Regulation challenges this assertion and is planning to intervene to force more competition in the market.