Vodafone’s Irish division has reported that after three years it has achieved the milestone of 200,000 paying customers for landline and broadband services.
The telco is marking the milestone by offering a free Android smartphone to every new and existing customer. The free smartphone, the Vodafone Smart 858, will come with three months of free mobile internet access on pay as you go.
In 2009, BT and Vodafone signed a landmark multimillion deal to transfer BT’s consumer, small-business broadband and voice customer base to Vodafone.
This deal, which involved the transfer of some €4.8m worth of assets, gave Vodafone access to BT’s 22 unbundled local exchanges around Ireland, as well as access to BT’s consumer phone and broadband base of 84,000 consumers and 3,000 small businesses.
The plan also saw BT and Vodafone commit significant investment towards developing an enhanced broadband infrastructure with speeds of up to 24Mbs for about two-thirds of available broadband lines by unbundling up to 58 additional exchanges.
Prior to the BT/Vodafone deal, Vodafone acquired broadband service provider Perlico for €80m in 2008.
