Editing Meteor (mobile network) (section)

===Launch===
Under Peter Quinn, Western Wireless International's VP of European Operations and Meteor's first CEO, Meteor launched on 22 February 2001, eight months after the High Court found in favor of their license over Orange. Uniquely, at the time, Billpay and prepaid customers could join without contracts and at the same cost of entry. Meteor slowly picked up a low (under 10%) share of the Irish market. However, they became profitable in their first year of operation and picked up much of the lucrative [[Prepaid mobile phone|pre-paid]] market among teenagers, due to low [[Short message service|SMS]] rates and promotions such as free Meteor-to-Meteor text messages.

In 2004, Western Wireless International bought out the remaining minority shareholders in the consortium, and it became a wholly owned subsidiary of that company.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/.../western-eyes-up-to-200m-meteor-gain-25974746.html |title=Western eyes up to ?200m Meteor gain |last=O'Hora |first=Ailish |date=2005-07-09 |publisher=INDEPENDENT.IE |access-date=2021-10-12 }}</ref>