Editing Meteor (mobile network)

{{Short description|Irish mobile telecommunications company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox company 
| name = Meteor Mobile Communications
| logo = [[Image:Meteor.svg|230px|Meteor Logo]]
| type = Private
| industry = [[Mobile phone|Mobile]] [[telecommunications]]
| fate = Merged into [[Eir (telecommunications)|eir Mobile]]
| successor = [[Eir (telecommunications)|eir Mobile]]
| foundation = 1998
| defunct = 8 September 2017
| location = 1 Heuston South Quarter, [[Dublin]], D08 A9RT, Ireland
| key_people = Larry Smith's ([[CEO]]) term ended in 2010 after Eircom and Meteor's retail operations were integrated.
| products = Mobile phone network, mobile phone services & related goods
| revenue = €388 million (June 2007)
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = ~800
| parent = [[eir (telecommunications)|eir]]
| subsid =
| footnotes =
| homepage = [http://www.meteor.ie www.meteor.ie]
}}

'''Meteor Mobile Communications Limited''' was a [[GSM]] and [[UMTS]] [[mobile telecommunications company]] in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]. They operated a [[GSM]]/[[GPRS]]/[[Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution|EDGE]]/[[UMTS]]([[HSPA+]]) and [[LTE (telecommunication)|LTE]] cellular communications network under licence from the [[Commission for Communications Regulation]] (ComReg), and were the third entrant in the market, after [[Vodafone Ireland]] and [[Three Ireland]]. The company was a wholly owned subsidiary of Irish telecoms network [[Eir (telecommunications)|Eir]], having been purchased for €420m in 2005. Meteor was the only Irish owned mobile operator in Ireland.<ref>
{{cite news
 | first = Deirdre
 | last = McArdle
 | title = eircom to buy Meteor for €420m
 | url = https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/07/26/eircom_buys_meteor/
 | publisher = [[The Register]]
 | date = 26 July 2005
 | access-date = 26 October 2008
 }}
</ref> 
Meteor once issued new numbers with the prefix code 085. Since the introduction of full [[mobile number portability]] in Ireland, access codes have become less relevant as mobile telephone users may now retain their mobile telephone numbers when moving between mobile network operators. As a result, Meteor customers could have numbers starting with the codes 083, 085, 086, 087, or 089.

As of September 2008, Meteor had over 1 million customers, or 20% of the market.<ref>[http://www.electricnews.net/story/show/10124762  "ENN.ie"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123054129/http://www.electricnews.net/story/show/10124762 |date=23 November 2008 }}</ref>

==History==

===Award of licence===
[[Image:MeteorConsortium.png|right|thumb|Logo used by the '''Meteor''' Consortium in bidding for the third GSM license in 1998/99]]In 1998, the then [[Commission for Communications Regulation|Director of Telecommunications Regulation]] held a competition to award the third mobile telecommunications licence. Two companies submitted bids for the licence, [[Orange SA|Orange]], then controlled by [[Hutchinson Whampoa]], and Meteor Mobile Communications (consisting at that point of Western Wireless, RF Communications Limited, and TWG Ireland LLC). On 19 June 1998 it was announced that Meteor had been ranked first in the competition. However, Orange took legal action against the Director to prevent the licence being awarded. This legal action ultimately failed and on 29 June 2000 Meteor were finally issued with the third mobile telecommunications licence.

===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>

===Acquisition by eircom===
[[Image:Meteorlogonew.png|right|thumb|Briefly used '''Meteor''' logo variant (2005–2007)]]
In early 2005 several Irish newspapers reported that Western Wireless had been approached with a view to selling Meteor. On 9 July 2005 it was reported by [[The Irish Times]] that there had been three bidders for Meteor: [[Eir (telecommunications)|eircom]], [[Smart Telecom]], and a consortium led by [[Denis O'Brien]]. It was considered that the probability of eircom winning, was looking increasingly unlikely due to their heavy debt of approximately €1.9 billion. It seemed unlikely they could afford it, should the price have topped €400 million. However, on 14 July 2005, [[RTÉ News]] reported on their business website<ref>[http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0714/meteor-business.html RTÉ.ie Meteor Bidding]</ref> that Denis O'Brien had withdrawn from bidding, and that it was understood that eircom was the top bidder at €410m. On 21 July it was announced that Smart Telecom had also withdrawn, leaving eircom as the sole bidder. On 25 July eircom announced that it had agreed to purchase the company for €420m. On 18 November 2005 the Competition Authority approved, subject to conditions (primarily, that separate accounts continue to be published for Meteor). The purchase was completed on 23 November 2005.

==Rapid growth==
In a report by eircom, Meteor had gained an 18.9% share of the mobile market in Ireland, with a customer base of over 962,000 of which over 100,000 (12%) were post paid subscribers under the Meteor BillPay brand. The company's subscriber base had increased to over one million as of September 2008. Meteor accounted for 66% of the overall growth of the Irish mobile market in the year to September 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://investorrelations.eircom.net/pdf/QuarterlyandninemonthReport_presentation.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2007-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929142305/http://investorrelations.eircom.net/pdf/QuarterlyandninemonthReport_presentation.pdf |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}</ref>
The company worked closely with Eircom in upgrading its billing systems and deploying [[Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution|EDGE]] and [[3G]] technology on its network. With the developments in eircom's acceptance of the fourth [[3G]] licence from [[ComReg]], Meteor was obliged to have 33% of the population covered with commercial roll out of 3G services in October 2007. Meteor also signed a deal with [[T-Mobile International AG|T-Mobile]] UK which saw T-Mobile UK contract customers being offered a flat rate [[Pound sterling|£]]0.25 for calls made while roaming on the Meteor network in Ireland. On 21 September 2006 Meteor announced the abolition of charges to receive calls while in the UK, by signing a deal with T-Mobile UK.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}

==Appointment of examiner==
On 29 March 2012, a number of companies within the [[Eir (telecommunications)|eir]] group, including Meteor, petitioned the Irish High Court for the appointment of an [[Examinership|examiner]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0329/breaking26.html |title=Eircom applies for examinership - The Irish Times - Thu, 29 March 2012 |publisher=The Irish Times |date=29 March 2012 |access-date=29 March 2012 |first=Ciarán |last=Hancock |archive-date=29 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329161919/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0329/breaking26.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/high-court-to-rule-on-eircoms-examinership-tomorrow-3065949.html|title=High Court to rule on Eircom's examinership tomorrow  |publisher=[[The Irish Independent]]|date=29 March 2012 |access-date=29 March 2012}}</ref>

==Products and services==
Meteor initially started out as a value-driven mobile service offering customers basic mobile voice telephony and text-based SMS services to mostly Pay and Go customers.

The company offered mobile services, such as MMS, GPRS, EDGE and 3G through their Pay as You Go and Bill Pay brands. 
In 2009 Meteor launched Bill Pay Lite. It offered short contracts and low monthly fees.

In February 2009 Meteor launched Broadband To Go, its mobile broadband offering. The service offered internet at [[HSDPA]] speeds and was available to Bill Pay and Pay as You Go customers. There were 3 different products on bill pay, with download allowances of 5GB, 10GB and 15GB. The Pay as you go service offered 7.5GB.

''Meteor Mobile Internet'' was the company's mobile internet based services, offering access to the mobile internet, realtones, full track music downloads and other content available for download to existing customers.

''Meteor Business'' was the company's division focusing on business customers. They offered services such as Mobile Email using  Visto technology,<ref>[http://www.visto.com/news/releases/07.03.20_meteor.asp Visto Press Release]</ref> Microsoft Windows Mobile Email and other products.

=== 4G - LTE ===
Meteor (along with its sister company, eMobile), provided 4G. 4G was originally only available in Dublin, Carlow, Cork, Clare, Limerick, Galway, Mullingar, Athlone and Dundalk. Meteor claimed to have 90% 4G population coverage across Ireland and had planned to cover the country with 90% geographic coverage by April 2017.

==eir Mobile (MNO) (former MVNO)==
As part of their mobile strategy eir and Meteor also launched ''eir Mobile'' aimed at the older residential and business market.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} This was complementary to the now discontinued Meteor brand (mainly used by younger residential wireless customers). eir Mobile was a mobile virtual network operator [[MVNO]] which used the Meteor Network for its services to residential and business customers, to complement the residential and business mobile services offered by Meteor. It is now a [[Mobile network operator]] with 96% 4G coverage, as well as 99% 3G population coverage as of September 2017,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=17730 |title=eircom announces launch of own-brand mobile service |publisher=TeleGeography |access-date=12 October 2021 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106055532/https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2007/05/08/eircom-announces-launch-of-own-brand-mobile-service/ |archive-date=2016-01-06}}</ref> when it became the successor to Meteor Mobile.

==Network==
Meteor previously had a national [[roaming]] agreement with [[O2 Ireland|O<sub>2</sub> Ireland]] which meant that, only on the westernmost areas of Ireland (where Meteor did not have coverage), a Meteor customer could use O<sub>2</sub> Ireland's network at no extra charge. This deal expired in February 2007. The final arrangement allowed Meteor customers access to the [[Vodafone Ireland]] network on the western-seabord of Ireland.

Like all other Irish operators, Meteor held a [[UMTS]] licence. They had offered nationwide [[3G]] services from 2007, but the Meteor [[3G]] network was available to 33% of the Irish population (this included the four cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and other regional centres) with very limited geographic coverage, around 15% by 2013.

They also offered [[GPRS]] (2.5G) and [[EDGE (telecommunication)|EDGE]] (2.75G) services. Their parent [[Eir (telecommunications)|eir]] won a bid for the final 3G licence, when their parent, eircom accepted this, because, [[Smart Telecom plc|Smart Mobile Ltd]]. was unable to pay for the license. Meteor continued to add [[Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution|EDGE]] capabilities to their then existing 2G network. In order to comply with the terms of licence, Meteor launched stage one (10% 3G population coverage area) from their [[UMTS]]/[[HSDPA]] Network on the end of October 2007, with the second phase having gone live to customers at the end of September 2008.

Meteor's network also offered [[4G]] services, which covered 96% of the Irish population. Meteor had Ireland's second largest 4G footprint after Vodafone.

The legal transfer of licence for UMTS services from Meteor's parent, eircom, was officially authorised on 26 June 2008 taking effect the following day.<ref>http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0853.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

==Meteor Ireland Music Awards==
Meteor sponsored Ireland's national music awards annually, becoming known at one point as ''[[Meteor Music Awards|The Meteors]]'', until their cancellation in 2011.

==Sponsorship==
Meteor sponsored [[RTÉ One]]'s travel show ''No Frontiers''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tvsales.rte.ie/sponsorship/current.htm |title=Current Sponsorships |publisher=RTÉ TV Sales |access-date=4 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330193358/http://tvsales.rte.ie/sponsorship/current.htm |archive-date=30 March 2010 }}</ref> and the second season of [[TV3 (Ireland)|TV3]]'s ''[[The Apprentice (Irish TV series)|The Apprentice]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/the-apprentice-looks-well-up-to-gold-standard-2223330.html|title='The Apprentice' looks well up to Gold standard|date=17 June 2010|publisher=Irish Independent|access-date=4 July 2010}}</ref> They have since removed their sponsorship of ''The Apprentice'', while RTÉ have since replaced ''No Frontiers'' with a new holiday show, ''Getaways''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.herald.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/ryanair-puts-a-halt-on-no-frontiers-in-spat-with-rte-over-aer-lingus-2240384.html|title=Ryanair puts a halt on No Frontiers in spat with RTE over Aer Lingus|last=McBride|first=Caitlin|date=30 June 2010|publisher=Evening Herald|access-date=4 July 2010}}</ref>

==Copyright Enforcement==
On the 1st of September 2009, Meteor and eircom began regulating access to the Pirate Bay with a "three strike" system, in compliance with a High Court order issued to eircom as a result of a court case between themselves and the [[Irish Recorded Music Association]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Eircom blocks users' access to Pirate Bay |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/eircom-blocks-users-access-to-pirate-bay-1.729121 |access-date=2024-02-17 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> This system was challenged by the [[Data Protection Commissioner]] (DPC) in 2010, but was overruled by the High Court. The DPC issued an order to eircom to halt this system in 2011, citing a ruling by the European Court of Justice.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-12-21 |title='Massive blow' to music industry as Eircom anti-piracy measures rejected · Business ETC |url=http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/massive-blow-to-music-industry-as-eircom-anti-piracy-measures-rejected-307584-Dec2011/ |access-date=2024-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221120242/http://businessetc.thejournal.ie/massive-blow-to-music-industry-as-eircom-anti-piracy-measures-rejected-307584-Dec2011/ |archive-date=21 December 2011 }}</ref> They continued to voluntarily completely block access to the Pirate Bay for some time after{{Until when|date=February 2024}}, however eircom does not block the Pirate Bay as of 2024.

==See also==
* [[List of Irish companies]]

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.meteor.ie}}

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Irish mobile phone companies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meteor (Mobile Network)}}
[[Category:1998 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:2017 disestablishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies of the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1998]]