# Meteor

> Meteor was Ireland’s third mobile network entrant, launched commercially in 2001 by a consortium backed by Western Wireless. It sold prepay and bill-pay mobile services, grew through value-led offers and wider coverage, and was acquired by eircom for €420 million in 2005. Its brand was retired into eir Mobile in September 2017.

- **Founded:** 1998
- **Headquarters:** Dublin, Ireland
- **Founders:** Sean Finlay (Consortium organiser; managing director of founding partner RF Communications), Western Wireless International (Founding consortium member and principal investor), RF Communications (Founding consortium member), The Walter Group (Founding consortium member)
- **Products:** Prepay and bill-pay mobile, National roaming, 4G mobile and mobile broadband, Smart Essential
- **Notable:** Won Ireland’s third GSM licence competition in 1998., Reached one million customers by September 2008 according to Publicis QMP., Participated in Ireland’s first commercial 4G mobile launch in September 2013.

## Products & services

- **Prepay and bill-pay mobile** — Voice calls, texts and later mobile data sold through prepaid credit and monthly plans.
- **National roaming** — An agreement with O2 filled domestic coverage gaps while Meteor expanded its own network.
- **4G mobile and mobile broadband** — Launched through Meteor and eMobile on 26 September 2013; compatible handsets, SIMs, MiFi devices and dongles supported faster internet access.
- **Smart Essential** — Historical 2013 launch plan: €49 per month, unlimited calls and texts and 3GB monthly data, with promotional unlimited 4G data until March 2014.

## Achievements

- Won Ireland’s third GSM licence competition in 1998.
- Reached one million customers by September 2008 according to Publicis QMP.
- Participated in Ireland’s first commercial 4G mobile launch in September 2013.

## Latest updates

- **2017-07** — Eir announces that Meteor will be rebranded as eir Mobile in September, with no changes to contracts or mobile plans as part of the rebrand.
- **2017-09** — Meteor’s brand is retired; the group reports 1,061,000 combined mobile customers at June 2017.
- **2019-05** — ComReg’s market decision confirms eir Mobile replaces the former Meteor brand.

## Links

- Website: http://www.meteor.ie
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/meteor-mobile-communications
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/meteor_mobile
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meteor

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/meteor
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Last updated: 2026-09-30