New mobile phone operator iD expected to offer cheaper iPhones
Dixons Carphone, the new company formed from the merger of Dixons and The Carphone Warehouse, is to launch its new Irish mobile phone operator in August.
The new operator, called iD, will run on 3 Ireland’s network.
The company has also named British mobile industry veteran Hamish White as the new operator’s interim general manager while it searches for a long term head of operations.
While it has not yet announced details of tariffs or plans, its recently-launched UK equivalent operator, also called iD, offers iPhone post-pay deals from €30 per month with no upfront payment. It also offers blanket roaming deals in 22 countries from €30 per month. A further €30-per-month deal offers “unlimited” data with 2,000 monthly call minutes and 5,000 texts.
The new operator was scheduled to launch this month but “the scale of the project” forced it to delay launch plans until August.
It is targeting 6pc of the Irish market in the next five years, according to Mark Slater, the newly appointed managing director of Dixons Carphone Ireland.
The company claims that a third of Irish bill-pay customers aim to switch networks in the next 12 months.
“Over 65pc of the [Irish] market are pre-pay mobile customers who have not committed to a mobile operator,” said Hamish White, iD general manager. “Equally, our research shows there is a real appetite to switch. We know what consumers are looking for and are not currently getting from their mobile provider. We’re planning to fill the gap. We’re confident we’ll reach our ambitious target in the Irish market.”
The new operator is one of two new mobile networks to launch in Ireland this year, with UPC expected to announce a new operator by the end of 2015.
The company says that it has invested €30m in the new mobile operator, leading to the creation of 50 jobs. It recently announced a €6m investment in a new data centre to facilitate the operator.