Meteor denies sale to Eircom

STaN

Senior Meteor executives have moved to quash a "whispering campaign" in the Irish telecom sector that the company is lining itself up to be bought by Eircom.


"There is no `for sale' sign over Meteor," the company's director of communications, Andrew Kelly, said last Friday. "There are no negotiations of any kind going on to that end."

Rumours of a bid for the third mobile phone licence have been escalating in recent weeks with the attention shifting away from 3G licence holder Hutchison Whampoa and onto Eircom.

An Eircom spokeswoman was


ambiguous about a possible bid. "We haven't made a decision yet," she said. "We're still looking at the options."

Eircom's `non- compete clause' withVodafone runs out next year and the telco recently hired McKinsey Consultants to advise on ways to enter the mobile phone market.

The rumours have been further fuelled by the news that Eircom's British incumbent counterpart, BT, is reportedly considering a stg»5 billion (e7.1 billion) bid for O2, the mobile phone network it spun off to reduce its debt in 2001. Whether or not the giant telco - which still has debts in excess of stg»20 billion (e28.4 billion) - proceeds with a bid, it has firmly signalled its intention to re-enter the mobile phone market, possibly as a virtual operator.

Fixed line telecoms companies have renewed their interest in mobile phone operations in recent months due to flat revenue growth and falling fixed line connections.

At present, Meteor holds 4 per cent of the Irish mobile phone market.

However, Kelly rejected any suggestion of buyout activity. "Ultimately this is a matter for shareholders, but they have stipulated quite clearly that they are committed to Meteor and the Irish market," he said.

Last week, Meteor's parent company,WesternWireless International, released quarterly results showing revenues of $119.5 million (e105 million) for its six international operations. It cut its loss from $13.8 million (e12 million) to $0.8 million (e0.7 million). The company recently sold its Croatian mobile phone network.

Urban Weigl

Originally posted by STaN
Fixed line telecoms companies have renewed their interest in mobile phone operations in recent months due to flat revenue growth and falling fixed line connections.

I wonder what could be causing that. Oh wait! Perhaps it's ridiculous high line rental (highest in Europe by far), terrible service and only 150 out of 1200 exchanges upgraded to DSL. You never know. :rolleyes:

thegills

Eircom's `non- compete clause' withVodafone runs out next year and the telco recently hired McKinsey Consultants to advise on ways to enter the mobile phone market.

I think it runs out this year

BT, is reportedly considering a stg»5 billion (e7.1 billion) bid for O2

I doubt in considering O2's licence award is being investigated and there are companies in the wings just waiting to sue the Irish Gov. for e2Bn

thegills

JTMan

Originally posted by STaN
Senior Meteor executives have moved to quash a "whispering campaign" in the Irish telecom sector that the company is lining itself up to be bought by Eircom.
"There is no `for sale' sign over Meteor," the company's director of communications, Andrew Kelly, said last Friday. "There are no negotiations of any kind going on to that end."

That's funny .. your former CEO (after he was sacked) said that WWI want to get rid of meteor.

Is Andrew just playing games to push up the price that Eircom will pay?

Originally posted by STaN
Rumours of a bid for the third mobile phone licence have been escalating in recent weeks with the attention shifting away from 3G licence holder Hutchison Whampoa and onto Eircom.

As I have said before Hutchison Whampoa will not under any circumstances buy meteor. It does not fit in their strategic approach to building 3 and it would contravene everything they have said.

Originally posted by STaN
An Eircom spokeswoman was ambiguous about a possible bid. "We haven't made a decision yet," she said. "We're still looking at the options."

The only other option they have is to be a virtual operator on 3 who will have about 20% 3G coverage at launch ... If they re-enter the mobile market then it will have to be via a purchase of Meteor.

Originally posted by STaN
The rumours have been further fuelled by the news that Eircom's British incumbent counterpart, BT, is reportedly considering a stg»5 billion (e7.1 billion) bid for O2, the mobile phone network it spun off to reduce its debt in 2001. Whether or not the giant telco - which still has debts in excess of stg»20 billion (e28.4 billion) - proceeds with a bid, it has firmly signalled its intention to re-enter the mobile phone market, possibly as a virtual operator.

What a load of rubbish ... Why are they saying possibly as a virtual operator ?? The decision has already been made by BT ... They are re-entering via virtual operator agreement via T-Mobile.

Originally posted by STaN
However, Kelly rejected any suggestion of buyout activity. "Ultimately this is a matter for shareholders, but they have stipulated quite clearly that they are committed to Meteor and the Irish market," he said.

If they are that commited then why don't WWI give meteor the capital to finish the national network building that seems to have stalled.

Soros own part of Eircom and part of Meteor. It is clear to most analysis that Soros want and are seeking a buyout by Eircom.

Originally posted by STaN
Last week, Meteor's parent company,WesternWireless International, released quarterly results showing revenues of $119.5 million (e105 million) for its six international operations. It cut its loss from $13.8 million (e12 million) to $0.8 million (e0.7 million). The company recently sold its Croatian mobile phone network.

WWI only cut it's looses because it included profit from the Croation and Iclandic sale in it's results plus they have cut capital they are giving meteor.

Originally posted by thegills
I think it runs out this year

Nope ... next year

STaN

Originally posted by Fungus
The only other option they have is to be a virtual operator on 3 who will have about 20% 3G coverage at launch ... If they re-enter the mobile market then it will have to be via a purchase of Meteor.

They could probably negotiate a virtual network over any of the 3 operators.

bk

Originally posted by STaN
They could probably negotiate a virtual network over any of the 3 operators.

They could, but under the license issued, o2 and Vodafone can tell them to feck off. 3 can't, if Eircom request it, then 3 must give them access, it is in their license.

If the rumour of BT looking to buy back o2 comes true, then EsatBT and o2 would again be under the same parent and therefore Eircom would have a competitor in the full services market (o2 + EsatBT).

Also at the moment Vodafone don't look like they have any interest in palying with telco operators, Vodafone is just too big for that.

JTMan

Originally posted by bk
They could, but under the license issued, o2 and Vodafone can tell them to feck off. 3 can't, if Eircom request it, then 3 must give them access, it is in their license.

Again .. Although 3 must supply a virtual network ... why on earth would Eircom go down this road? It would give them 20% national coverage with a technology that is full of problems in the UK. A purchase of Meteor is much more probable.

Originally posted by bk
If the rumour of BT looking to buy back o2 comes true

It's not. BT have just jumped into bed with T-Mobile with a long term deal.