O2 Ireland claimed today it added an additional 96,000 customers in the three months to December 2003.
The subsidiary of the British telecoms operator mmO2 said it signed up 91,000 pre-pay and 5,000 billed customers in the third quarter bringing its Irish customer base to 1.37 million.
O2 initiated a cost-cutting drive late last year in an bid to increase its customer base. It reduced pre-paid service charges by between one and eight cent and extended its off-peak period, when calls are cheapest, by four hours to 16 hours.
According to data released today O2's average revenue per user (ARPU) for pre-pay customers increased to €355, up from €337 in the same period a year earlier. The ARPU for post-pay customers rose to €1,048, up from €1,017.
Vodafone's average revenue per user (ARPU) was €576 a-year, compared with €532 in 2002. The ARPU for bill-paying customers' was €1,109 while pre-paid ARPU was €354. Both mobile operators have been instructed by the Telecoms regulator ComReg to open their networks to new entrants in the market.
They hold 95 per cent of the Irish mobile market. O2's parent mmO2 said it had added 855,000 customers in the third quarter taking its total subscriber base to 20.1 million. O2 UK added 430,000 customers, including 145,000 contract customers while O2 Germany signed up 335,000 new subscribers, including 252,000 contract customers.
The ARPUgrew to £264 sterling (€387) in the UK from £259 in the second quarter and at O2 Germany ARPU rose to €360 from €354 in the second quarter.
The volume of short text messages (SMS) grew by 12.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, to 2.89 billion. Data as a proportion of service revenue increased to 20.9 per cent in the three months ending December 31st, 2003 from 19.2 per cent in the second quarter.