7,000 extra billpay customers for O2

O2 IRELAND saw its total mobile phone customer base dip slightly during the first quarter of 2011, but still managed to boost its share in the billpay market.

The company’s total Irish mobile customer base stood at 1.68 million people at the end of March; down from just under 1.7 million at the end of the preceding quarter.

O2/Telefonica Ireland’s chief financial officer Paul Whelan said: “There was little sign of recovery in the Irish economy in the first quarter of this year, with consumer confidence remaining very low.

“In response, we continue to innovate and extend our range of tariff options, focusing on value and flexibility.

“For business customers, we have completely overhauled our pricing model, enabling them to buy only what they need and giving them the necessary control to reduce costs.”

He said the company was pleased with its continued growth in the post-pay/billpay sector during the quarter, when customer numbers increased by 7,000 on the preceding quarter and by over 34,000, when measured on a year-on-year basis. That growth was mainly due to an accelerated uptake of data services.

“Data traffic on O2’s network was up over 40% year-on-year at the end of March. Looking to future growth opportunities, we’re expanding into adjacent services and, in February, entered financial services with the launch of the O2 Money pre-pay card. It has already exceeded all expectations, with over 25,000 people signed up. We see further opportunities in this sector as we look to expand our range of O2 Money products,” Mr Whelan said.

The first quarter also saw a reduction in O2’s monthly average revenue per user, from €36.6 in December to €34.39.