Mobile phone operator, Meteor, has achieved a 3.1 per cent share of the Republic's mobile phone market during its first year of operation, according to figures released by the company yesterday.

This compares to a 57.6 per cent market share for Vodafone and 39.3 per cent for Digifone, and leaves the third operator with 113,000 active customers. Some 10,200 customers joined the Meteor network on Christmas Day.

Meteor chief executive, Mr David Sims said yesterday that he was "pretty well pleased" that the company had met its targets during its first 12 months, but added than an additional 137,000 users would need to come on board before Meteor would break even. He expects this point to come in the course of 2003.

Mr Sims said that 78 per cent of Meteor's customers had been won over from the two established networks, with the company having been "a little bit more successful" in winning customers from Vodafone than Digifone. The operator now claims to provide network coverage for 79 per cent of the Republic's population, or about 65 per cent of the State's geographic area.

Meteor spent about €12.7 million on its advertising campaign last year and has now achieved 80 per cent brand recognition among mobile users, according to Mr Sims. He said that he wanted to build on this position in 2003.