O2 Ireland sees continued growth

Leading mobile operator O2 Ireland has reported 96,000 new customers in its third quarter to the end of December, bringing its customer base to 1.37 million.

Of these, 91,000 were pre-paid.

Average revenue per user rose in the second quarter by €5 to €556, significantly higher than comparable figures for both mmO2's German and British operations.

Voice minutes per customer were up 5% year-on-year while SMS volumes grew by 16%.

Mobile operators have said that higher Average Revenue per User (ARPU) figures in Ireland are the result of higher usage, but the regulator ComReg said recently the evidence for this was 'inconclusive'.

mm02 - formerly the wireless unit of British Telecommunications - adopted the O2 brand (as in oxygen, to reflect the essential nature of its services) for all holdings except its Manx Telecom unit in the Isle of Man

Overall, mmO2 added 855,000 customers, bringing its total to over 20 million.