Vodafone Ireland
Encyclopedia
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
company in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in terms of active subscribers, and was previously called Eircell. The mobile phone system in use is a digital GSM 900 system, and also a third-generation UMTS system (the first such 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
system in the Republic of Ireland; see communications in Ireland). The company offers email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
in addition to mobile phone products and services. The company's "pay as you go" mobile phone product was previously called Ready to Go, previously advertised by Republica
Republica
Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The Republica sound was described by the band as "techno-pop punk rock"...
's song of the same name. It is now called Prepay
Vodafone commands a market share of 54% in Ireland.
087 is the usual area code for mobile phone numbers serviced by Vodafone. However, following introduction of full number portability by the Commission for Communications Regulation
Commission for Communications Regulation
The Commission for Communications Regulation is the general communications regulator for the Republic of Ireland, covering almost all possible types of communications....
, some subscribers may have 083, 085, 086 or 089 prefixes instead.
As Eircell, the company sponsored the Irish version of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
quiz show
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
while it ran on RTÉ television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Eircell
Telecom Éireann
Telecom Éireann, or formally Bord Telecom Éireann - The Irish Telecommunications Board, was created by the Postal & Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, Ireland, under the leadership of the Minister for Posts & Telegraphs...
. The GSM network went live on July 1993. Eircell handled the Irish mobile phone networks defined by the access codes 088 (analogue TACS system) and 087 (digital GSM 900 system) from 1984 until its transfer to Vodafone in 2001. Usage of the service remained low until it became a separate subsidiary, Eircell Limited, in 1997. In October 1997, Eircell introduced the analogue prepaid pay as you go system under the Ready To Go brand, and turned mobile communications in Ireland into a mass-market product. From early 1997 Eircell faced competition from Esat Digifone, then a joint venture between Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien is an Irish businessman with international connections. An Arts graduate of University College Dublin, O'Brien has received a MBA in corporate finance from Boston College in 1982, and was later given an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin.O'Brien has involvement with...
's Esat Telecom Group plc and Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
of Norway. In 2000, Vodafone made an offer for the company to Eircell's parent, eircom
Eircom
Eircom Group LTD is a telecommunications company in the Republic of Ireland, and a former state-owned incumbent. It is currently the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland and operates primarily on the island of Ireland, with a point of presence in Great Britain.As Bord...
Plc., which saw the company demerge from Eircom plc into a separate plc, Eircell 2000 plc (trading name: Eircell Vodafone), which was then acquired by Vodafone. In 2002, Eircell Vodafone was rebranded as Vodafone Ireland plc.
In 2001, Eircell closed down its original analogue TACS (088) system, and Vodafone Ireland now operates a purely digital (GSM/UMTS) network.
Eircell Vodafone rebranded to Vodafone Ireland
Vodafone saw Eircell undergo a major rebranding exercise on its acquisition by the group. The main rebranding was to associate a shade of deep purplePurple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
with the company. When Vodafone rebranded with their trademark shade of red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, the tagline used was "Red is the new purple, Vodafone is the new name for Eircell".
Vodafone Ireland introduced UMTS services (branded "Vodafone live! with 3G") in 2004, launching the first handsets in November. This meant they were ahead of O2 Ireland
O2 Ireland
Telefónica Ireland is a broadband and telecommunications provider in Ireland. The company is marketed and trades as O2...
and new entrant 3 Ireland in launching third-generation services. Mobile network Meteor is rolling out their own 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
/UMTS network, having been awarded the last Irish UMTS licence. Initially restricted to contract ('bill pay') customers, Vodafone extended UMTS to pre-pay 'Ready To Go' customers from 2 June 2005.
Vodafone Ireland have also been known as "Eircell-Vodafone" during their dual-branding phase.
Criticism
Analysis by the Sunday Independent in January 2006 showed the massive margins being earned by Vodafone and O2 in the country are costing Irish mobile phone users about €300m a year. If the mobile phone companies were to cut their Irish margins to the group average, Vodafone customers would see their annual bills falling by an average of €80.47 (€6.71 a month)The European Commission upheld a ruling by the Irish regulatory body, Comreg, that the Irish mobile phone market needed greater competition, and acknowledged that "tacit collusion possibly existed between O2 and Vodafone".
A senior manager at Vodafone Ireland in March 2007 was dismissed following allegations that he defrauded the mobile operator of more than €1m. The company added in a statement: "As the matter is subject to legal proceedings, Vodafone cannot comment further."
The National Parents Council criticised mobile phone companies for the lack of information available about filtering. The Sunday Tribune tested access to four separate sites - a pornography site, an Irish escort site, a pro-anorexia site and a prosuicide site - on the mobile phone networks Vodafone, O2, 3 and Meteor. All four networks allowed access.
In January 2009 it was revealed that Ireland is nearly the most profitable market in the world for multinational mobile operators like Vodafone.
In April 2009, the Company admitted to overcharging 100,000 of its Irish customers a total of €900,000 by incorrectly billing them.
In August 2010, it was revealed that the Irish exchequer is facing a demand from the Company for a substantial corporation tax refund after it agreed that tax paid in Ireland should have been paid in Britain. The Vodafone subsidiary in question had profits of over €200 million but just 20 employees.
In March 2011, Vodafone pleaded guilty to four breaches of the Data Protection Act at the Dublin District Court.
Perlico
On 13 November 2007, Vodafone Ireland announced the acquisition of Perlico, a small fixed line phone and broadband services reseller for €80m. This is in line with the strategy of other VodafoneVodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
companies across Europe, in buying small fixed-line providers for potential offerings of future converged services.
As a result of the acquisition, Perlico retains their management and separate brand identity, but will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Ireland.
Acquisition of BT fixed-line broadband and small business customers
On 22 July 2009 BT IrelandBT Ireland
BT Communications Limited is a telecommunications and internet company in Ireland. It is a subsidiary of BT Group plc.-Esat Telecom:The company was founded in 1990 by Denis O'Brien, and was originally known as Esat Telecom...
agreed to transfer its consumer voice, broadband data and small business operations in Ireland to Vodafone, leap-frogging the company into a leading role as a fixed-line broadband operator in the country. Under the terms of the deal Vodafone will lease capacity on BT's fixed line network for the services.