Meteor yesterday claimed to be the first mobile operator to abolish charges for making and receiving calls while roaming in Northern Ireland and in the UK.
From 26 September, the company will allow prepay customers to receive calls while roaming in Northern Ireland and in the UK and not be charged.
The company, which does not have a network in Northern Ireland or the UK, has an agreement in place with T-Mobile UK.
“These new roaming rates reflect our commitment to our customers and our resolve to drive down prices in the Irish mobile market,” said the company’s chief executive Robert Haulbrook.
“The introduction of our Northern Ireland and UK roaming rates is yet again proof positive that Meteor is bringing competition to the mobile market, while providing better value roaming rates to its customers.”
Haulbrook said that Meteor now has over 700,000 customers in the Republic, equating to a 16pc market share.
The move follows decisions earlier this year by Vodafone and O2 to abolish roaming rates for their customers while making calls roaming in the North and UK.
However, siliconrepublic.com has learned that while O2 and Vodafone have abolished roaming charges for users south of the border, mobile users north of the border are still paying roaming charges if their coverage roams onto a southern network.
By John Kennedy