Interim results "led by Meteor's owner, Eircom, show that the company now has 700,000 subscribers. The mobile company has expanded its customer base by almost 70% over the last 18 months and has grown its share of the Irish mobile market from 10% to 16% since October, when Eircom paid 423m for Meteor.

At that time Eircom chief executive Phil Nolan said the company's goal was to increase Meteor's market share to around 20%. The company appears well on the way to achieving that target.

Meteor has also increased the proportion of bill-pay customers on its books, from 8% to 8.5%, since March.

Bill-pay customers account for less than one in "ve Irish mobile subscribers, but generate signi"cantly higher revenue for operators.

Meteor's traditional strength has been in the pre-paid section of the market but, since being taken over by Eircom, it has made a conscious effort to target the more lucrative bill-pay and corporate customers.