3GScottishUser
20th January 2008, 11:34 AM
Hutchison 3G Ireland (3 Ireland) is reported to have hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to advise it on a possible bid for rival Irish operator, Meteor. The Irish Independent says that in an interview last November, 3 Ireland boss Robert Finnegan would not rule out a bid for Meteor.
There have been rumours that Meteor owner, eirecom has sounded out potential buyers for the mobile operator, which lags far behind the two dominant players in the market, O2 and Vodafone. The company has officially denied these rumours though.
eirecom, a landline operator is in the process of splitting into two companies - a network infrastructure arm and a retail side which would include the Meteor mobile division.
The operator has been tentatively valued at around the 1 billion mark. Both Meteor and 3 hold 3G licenses, so if a merger is agreed then one of those licenses would have to be handed back.
The data at the Mobile World notes that Meteor ended last September with just over 900,000 subscribers, while 3 Ireland is estimated to have had 132,000 subscribers. Even if merged, the operator would still be the smallest in the country, behind O2's 1.6 million customers and Vodafone with 2.2 million customers.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/28599.php
There have been rumours that Meteor owner, eirecom has sounded out potential buyers for the mobile operator, which lags far behind the two dominant players in the market, O2 and Vodafone. The company has officially denied these rumours though.
eirecom, a landline operator is in the process of splitting into two companies - a network infrastructure arm and a retail side which would include the Meteor mobile division.
The operator has been tentatively valued at around the 1 billion mark. Both Meteor and 3 hold 3G licenses, so if a merger is agreed then one of those licenses would have to be handed back.
The data at the Mobile World notes that Meteor ended last September with just over 900,000 subscribers, while 3 Ireland is estimated to have had 132,000 subscribers. Even if merged, the operator would still be the smallest in the country, behind O2's 1.6 million customers and Vodafone with 2.2 million customers.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/28599.php