It is understood that mobile network operator Meteor’s network crashed this morning for an hour and a half while the company carried out important upgrade and repair work.
Meteor’s network, which supports around 180,000 mobile phone users, crashed between eight o’clock and nine o’clock this morning while the upgrade work was being carried out.
The company is understood to be upgrading its network to cope with future demand and claimed that such crashes would be “impossible” in the future.
With less than 5pc of the local market share in Ireland, Meteor has been struggling to ratchet up its figures since it came into the market three years ago following a lengthy delay as a result of a court case surrounding the awarding of Ireland’s third GSM license. However, according to the latest results from its parent Western Wireless, Meteor notched up an extra 24,600 mobile customers in the last quarter.
Meteor, which finally began operating in Ireland two years ago after a two-year delay caused by Orange’s decision to sue the regulator over the awarding of Ireland’s third GSM license to Meteor, missed out on the watershed years of mobile penetration in Ireland, which currently stands at over 80pc of the population.
The company believes it will have boosted its shareholding of the Irish market to 10pc by the end of 2004.
By John Kennedy
