Eircom is in advanced talks to buy Meteor?

Cork

There was a story in yesterdays Sunday Business Post that Eircom is in advanced talks to buy Meteor. Hopefully, Virtual operators will soon enter the market.

Eircom is in advanced talks to buy mobile phone operator Meteor for up to $400 million (€308 million), a price at the lower end of expectations.
The talks between Eircom and Western Wireless, Meteor's parent company in Seattle, are believed to have reached a crunch stage with a significant gap in valuations existing between the two sides.


A spokesman for Eircom said the company had no comment to make.
Acquiring Meteor, which has an estimated 340,000 customers, would see Eircom reenter the mobile phone market. It sold Eircell to Vodafone for €4.3 billion in 2001.
Meteor would give Eircom a 9 per cent market share in one of the most lucrative mobile phone markets in Europe.
The bulk of Meteor's subscribers are in the pre-paid market.
Owning a mobile network would enable Eircom to eventually offer a seamless package of fixed and mobile telephony including a single billing arrangement. Eircom currently has over two million fixed telephone lines across the country.
The decision to enter into active acquisition negotiations with Western Wireless shows a clear preference by management to own its own network rather than to piggyback on that of a rival as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).
A source close to the company said it just “can't make it work with MVNO'‘.
Earlier this year, Philip Nolan, chief executive of Eircom, said that while MVNO would also enable Eircom to pursue a strategy of convergence, “clearly ownership of the network brings benefits that MVNO doesn't, certainly in the long-term'‘.
The negotiations between the two sides have been made more difficult by the recent purchase of Western Wireless by US group Alltel. The latter has said it may float its entire international division on the stock market. If a deal goes ahead, Eircom may pose a greater competitive threat to the big two players in the market, Vodafone and O2. The two dominant operators currently enjoy some of the highest revenues per user in Europe.

is this not a step backwards? trying to make up for the earlier mistake?

mrblack

Deleted User wrote:

is this not a step backwards? trying to make up for the earlier mistake?

I'd like to make that mistake: Sell for $4.3 billion and buy a competing network for only E300 million. Eircom will be able to outmaneouvre VF, O2 & 3 by bundling mobile landline & BB charges together into one bill-Within a few years Eircoms with their pretty competent marketing dept. could attain a sigificant mobile market share I would think. Its just a great pity that the sale proceeds of Eircell were siphoned off to Sir O'Reilly & Co instead of being reinvested into the network.

Creamy Goodness

thank god i'm jumping of the meteor ship soon (once credit runs out)

dahamsta

I always thought (and still wouldn't be surprised if) Hutchison would buy Meteor, but Eircom was always a close second. Has there ever really been any other candidate?

adam

LFCFan

I can't see 5c per minute calls and free texts lasting if €ircon take over!

rymus

nuts... just when I was about to switch to Meteor to get their 5c calls

TerrorFirmer

<Joke or otherwise, not the kind of thing you want someone to be able to quote you on - seamus>

PowerHouseDan

does the terms and conditions not apply if another company take over? ie free text for "life"

Töpher

rymus

im sure eircom know all the loopholes of creating new terms and conditions. After all, they are the father of the Irish loophole.

Probable Eircom Mobile T&C's

1. Be shafted forever.

2 - 120. See 1.

Harry2001

Cork wrote:

Acquiring Meteor, which has an estimated 340,000 customers.

a lot less that that I'd say if this comes off, I'll be off like a shot!

jesus_thats_gre

Eh a few hundred people on boards hating eircom means nothing you know..

Think of all the households who have eircom lines that eircom were in serious danger of loosing to mobile phone companies.. If they acquire Meteor they will be a force to be reckoned with in the mobile industry while also maintaining a foothold in nearly every household.

byte

The ability to possibly have mobile and landline bills combined in one bill could be appealing for many households. Not for me though, I'll probably continue to be shafted by Vodafone for aeons.

Eircom Mobile...

damien

byte wrote:

Eircom Mobile...

Oh I hope nobody domain squats on that.

DonegalMan

Cork wrote:

Eircom is in advanced talks to buy mobile phone operator Meteor for up to $400 million (€308 million), a price at the lower end of expectations.

Considering Eircom's financial situation, that probably means €308m less spent on Broadband rollout over next while

seamus

If eircom did buy Meteor, it would be unlike them to offer anything more than integrated billing, and perhaps a slightly reduced combined line rental (e.g. if the landline rental is €25 and mobile rental is €20, then the consumer gets it for €40). eircom aren't exactly known for ground-breaking innovative ideas.

damien

Maybe they'll nick the idea Smart had that your handset locks into the landline once you get home. Though that would save you money ....

JohnC.

LFCFan wrote:

I can't see 5c per minute calls and free texts lasting if €ircon take over!

But they will not last anyway. The 5c offer ends on January 31st, 2006 and you have to top-up by at least €20 per month to avail of it, with the last valid top-up date being January 1 2006. And it cannot be used in conjunction with the free text offer. There are always catches.

mrblack

Kahless wrote:

The 5c offer ends on January 31st, 2006 and you have to top-up by at least €20 per month to avail of it, with the last valid top-up date being January 1 2006. And it cannot be used in conjunction with the free text offer. There are always catches.

indeed- I am toying with the idea of getting a second meteor sim so I can have the 5c/min calls on it and the free texts on my regular handset. The free texts and MMS offer is too good to give up unless they produce a nice brown envelope

SkepticOne

ComReg's MVNO decision will have no doubt helped Eircom in negotiating the low price. By giving Eircom the option of using O2 and Vodafones networks at a below-market price, Eircom are in a much stronger position when doing the deal thus undermining the investment of Meteor. Their lobbying of ComReg has paid off.