Time for a fourth mobile licence?

Mailman

The vast majority of the nation now have mobile phones.
The population of Ireland is increasing year on year.
Prices are still relatively high.
Surely the country can sustain another mobile phone operator and wouldn't a fourth operator put pressure on prices.
If there was more competition reducing prices wouldn't Eircom have to drop prices to retain their customers instead of loosing them to the mobile operators?

Genghis

I would agree with you in principle, but in practice Meteor has not been able to seriously shake-up the O2/Vodafone dominance, so I cannot see how a fourth licence issued on the same basis would have a lot of impact (there would be questions as to whether anyone would be interested in building / operating such a network as well).

Comreg should move to licence MVNOs to allow further competition - someone like Virgin in the UK, perhaps some of the larger fixed line telcos here (Eircom, Smart, Esat) and others (like Orange, T-mobile) might be interested in entering the market on this basis.

Of course, the Irish mobile industry has not been noted for rapid reaction to opportunities for development, so it may well become a case of 'too little, too late' by the time Comreg gets round to doing anything substantial.

drrnwbb

perhaps it is time for more virtual networks to be launched.

here in finland there is about five virtual networks in addition to the three or four normal networks. (even the local burger chain here, hesburger, has their own virtual network)

with the introduction here of number portability recently there has been about 300,000 people moving to these virtual networks because of their lower costs.

now the main networks are fighting back. for example, one of them (sonera) launched their own virtual network (zeroforty) here last month. for 15euros a month you can get 1000sms a month.

dw

rymus

Originally posted by drrnwbb
for 15euros a month you can get 1000sms a month.

Good God! Can you imagine if that happened over here? Everyone between the ages of 12 and 25 would have acute thumb arthritis within a week.

drrnwbb

Originally posted by rymus
Good God! Can you imagine if that happened over here? Everyone between the ages of 12 and 25 would have acute thumb arthritis within a week.

yeah i know there was another virtual network here that gave an offer of unlimited sms's to any of five friends that you had selected. of course some people went nuts and smsd all day long. so some limiting conditions were added.

as i mentioned earlier, the normal networks are fighting back to the virutal networks. sonera have introduced a thing where by no matter how many calls or sms's you make on a sunday (until mid feb) you will only be charged 1euro for that day. but it does show that for certain elements of the market there can be savings.

dw

JTMan

There is a forth licence and it is held by 3. They will launch some time this year.

A proper MVNO system is the only way to stop the Voda o2 rip off.

dahamsta

Originally posted by Fungus
A proper MVNO system is the only way to stop the Voda o2 rip off.

What are the odds of that though?

Isn't this somewhat off-topic by the way? Mobile communications is certainly a subject that could do with user representation, but last I looked it isn't in IrelandOffline's remit.

adam

JTMan

Originally posted by dahamsta
What are the odds of that though?

Slim. There is a chance that Eircom will be a VMNO on the Meteor network ... but they are more likely to buy Meteor.
Anyone can be a VMNO on the 3 network ... but the lack of coverage will probably put that off for at least 3-4 years.

The only way forward is to force voda and o2 to allow VMNOs. After what has happened in other countries with this they are highly unlikely to do this voluntarily.

sixtysix

i attempted to switch my vodafone bill acount to meteor last weekend only to be told that i would need to show a bank statement as well as all the other forms of id requested. as i object to showing my bank balance to them i gave up on the idea. it is for nonsense like this that meteor have such a low percentage of the market.

Moriarty

Where the devil did this come from?

Not really sure where to put it, so im plonking it in Mobiles.

JTMan

Originally posted by sixtysix
i attempted to switch my vodafone bill acount to meteor last weekend only to be told that i would need to show a bank statement as well as all the other forms of id requested. as i object to showing my bank balance to them i gave up on the idea. it is for nonsense like this that meteor have such a low percentage of the market.

Standard bill pay practice ... they all do it.

Faltermyer

Originally posted by sixtysix
i attempted to switch my vodafone bill acount to meteor last weekend only to be told that i would need to show a bank statement as well as all the other forms of id requested. as i object to showing my bank balance to them i gave up on the idea. it is for nonsense like this that meteor have such a low percentage of the market.

As Fungus said, that is pretty much standard practice. Credit Card statement will do instead if thats better for you?

Why not just tip-ex out/cover up the balance? They only want it for proof-of-address purposes. Afaik, its not even used for the "Credit Check" they do.

jesus_thats_gre

There is currently 3 GSM license in operation in Ireland. There has been 3 UMTS/3G licenses issued to operators, Vodafone, O2 and Three, there is still a fourth license available that has not been picked up. There is alot of rumours as to who will pick this up, Meteor certainly dont seem interested. Some are suggesting that Eircom will eventually buy it when they have re-established themselves as a mobile operator again, possibly with the help of Meteor.

I am very interested in the some of the points made about Finland. With a population of about 5 million, Finland shares quite alot of similarities with us here in Ireland. So if 4 operators and another 4 Virtual operators are able to operate in Finland, it could in theory work here too. Secondly, the cost of rolling out a network in Finland would be considerably more expensive as its considerably larger in land mass than Ireland and has a far lower population density. These factors really favour Ireland I think (mind you I know feck all really)...

It would be good to see more competition here. While Meteor have only had a small impact so far, they are been taken more and more seriously as time goes by. If, or even when, Eircom do re-enter the market, I think thigs will change dramatically.

JTMan

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre

It would be good to see more competition here. While Meteor have only had a small impact so far, they are been taken more and more seriously as time goes by. If, or even when, Eircom do re-enter the market, I think thigs will change dramatically.

It really depends on how aggressive Eircom will be with pricing. If they buy Meteor then a lot of funds will have to be tied up in network building. If they become a virtual operator then it depends on the discount they are offered.

I think 3 could shake things up more than Eircom. If 3 copy the prices they have in the UK, finalise their roaming agreement with O2 Ireland and solve their network problems then they could really shake up the market.

BrianD

There is no need for a fourth operator as it will suffer the safe fate as Meteor. The real problem is that the Irish consumer that is unwilling to shop around and is afraid and suspicious of new product. Oddly, if Eircom do a VNMO on Meteor people will probably sign up as they recognaise the name (and high prices!).

Meteor appear to be the cheapest network but nobody seems to be interested. Their network coverage is not as good as O2/Vodafone (especially Donegal) but this seems to be a spurious issue as it only really affects really people who are constantly on the move. Speak to any O2/Vodafone customers and they will always complain about lack of coverage. If coverage is good enough in your area then its good enough for you!

Skyuser

I thought ryanair was setting up a mobile phone company??

BrianD

I don't think the Ryanair brand will transfer into any other industry unlike say, Virgin.

Ryanair are to be credited with introducing competition on my Irish routes and driving air fares downwards. ryanair may stand for low prices but poor delivery and poor service....not something youwant from your mobile operator apart from low prices!

embraer170

I don't think the Ryanair brand will transfer into any other industry unlike say, Virgin.

Well it seems to have transferred pretty well to Credit Cards, Telecoms and Loans. Their annual report(s) show that ancillary revenues are growingly important and I expect the trend to continue.

Finally a quick glance at the 2003 Google Zeitgeist will show Ryanair as the 5th most popular brand worldwide (just after Ferrari, Sony, Bmw and Disney).

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html