Damien Mulley

O2 Ireland also today issued its KPIs for the Q4 period, from 1 October 2007 to 31 December 2007.

• * Service revenue for the 3 months to 31 December 2007 was €231 million, an increase of 3.7% on the same period last year.
• * O2 Ireland’s customer base at the end of December 2007 was 1.646 million, its highest level to date. Customer numbers were up 0.9% compared to the same period last

year, with 22,000 net new postpay customers added in the quarter.

• * Monthly average blended ARPU for the quarter was €45.7, down from €47.0 in Q3, but up from €45.0 in the same period last year.
• * For the quarter, monthly average ARPU for postpay customers was €78.8, down from €84.9 in Q3, and down from €81.4 compared to the same period last year.
• * For the quarter, monthly average ARPU for prepay customers was €29, down slightly from €29.2 in Q3, and down from €29.6 compared to the same period last year.
• * Average monthly minutes of use increased by 2.5% year on year to 252, up from 246 in the same period last year, and up 0.8% from 250 in Q3.
• * 400 million text messages were sent during the three-month period representing a 1.8% increase in text usage up from 393 million in Q3.
• * O2 Broadband continued to perform well in the quarter, with subscriber numbers to date now standing at 41,000.
• * Data revenue as a percentage of overall service revenue was 27.9% in Q4, up from 26.5% in Q3, and up from 22.1% in the same period last year.

And now to wait for the details…

You are cordially invited to attend a media briefing with O2 Ireland Chief Executive, Danuta Gray, to launch the Apple iPhone in Ireland, exclusively on the O2 network. Danuta Gray will also discuss O2 Ireland’s Q4 Financial Results issued today.

WHEN: 11.15am, Thursday 28th February, 2008
WHERE: O2 Ireland HQ, 28 – 29 Sir John Rogersons Quay, Dublin 2
WHAT: Launch of the Apple iPhone exclusively on O2 Ireland’s network

Update:
Thanks to Brian

Pricing:
€399 for 8GB
€499 for 16GB
(In the States these are in dollars, bit of a difference there)

Tariffs:
Monthly charge €45 €65 €100 Units
Anytime minutes included* 175 350 700 Mins
Texts included* 100 150 250 Texts
Data included** 1GB 1GB 1GB GB
Additional calls 20c 20c 20c Per min
Additional texts 10c 10c 10c Per texts
Voicemail*** 15c 15c 15c Per min

* Unused inclusive minutes and texts cannot be carried over to the following month
** Data use in excess of the 1GB allowance will be charged at 2c per MB excluding roaming
*** Visual voicemail is not currently supported.

All iPhone tariffs are subject to an 18 month agreement. It is a requirement that when purchasing iPhone that you pay your monthly bill by Bank Direct Debit or Credit Card Direct Debit.

To guarantee availability of iPhone, you can place a pre-order at any O2 Store between 28th February and 13th March. You will need to pay a deposit of €100, provide proof of identity and provide proof of residence.

Thoughts: No unlimited data. In fact even with the 100 quid a month package you still only get 1GB. Stingy! Pricing of handsets is too much when you can get them in the States for $399 and $499 dollars. Premium of 140%?

Further thoughts: If you have an unlocked iPhone you got say from the States or even from o2 could you put in an existing sim and add their 10Gb data package to it?

Updated 2: Full details of iPhone in Ireland

Updated: “You are cordially invited to attend a media briefing with O2 Ireland Chief Executive, Danuta Gray, to launch the Apple iPhone in Ireland”. iPhone launching.

Just speculating. Two things.

First this press invite:

You are cordially invited to attend a media briefing with O2 Ireland Chief Executive, Danuta Gray, for the presentation of the company’s Q4 Financial Results, at 11.15am on Thursday 28th February, 2008, in O2 Ireland Headquarters, Sir John Rogersons Quay, Dublin 2.

Second. Via the Daithster:

Macworld reports that the most recent iPhone software update includes code for an Irish network (it is, of course, O2).

It’s going to be announced. It’s all about the when now.

Photo owned by Mountain/\Ash (cc)