Hutchison set to sign roaming deal with O2

Hutchison 3G Ireland is in talks with O2 Ireland and is close to finalising a national roaming deal that would enable it to offer voice services across the State.

The firm, which is planning to launch mobile services next year, has also held initial discussions with Vodafone. But senior industry sources believe the firm will sign a deal with O2, which has a similar "roaming" arrangement with Hutchison in Britain.

National roaming will enable Hutchison to offer voice services to Irish customers by piggybacking on another firm's mobile phone network. Hutchison's national roaming partner would earn millions of euros in wholesale revenues if the new operator succeeds in the Irish market.

Until now both dominant operators in the Irish market, O2 and Vodafone, have decided not to sign roaming deals with the third operator Meteor. But under the terms of the third-generation (3G) mobile licence competition, companies that were awarded a 3G licence were mandated to offer roaming to a new entrant.

This means that both Vodafone and O2 must engage in commercial negotiations with Hutchison on national roaming.

Industry sources believe the two firms are keen to do a commercial deal with Hutchison rather than have the regulator impose one over their heads.

Hutchison would not comment on its discussions with both Vodafone and O2. But an O2 spokeswoman confirmed the firm was talking to Hutchison and said the firm expected to conclude the discussions over coming weeks.

"We do have a national roaming agreement with them \ which has been in place for the last 18 months or so," added the spokeswoman.

Hutchison 3G Ireland is a subsidiary of the Hong-Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, and is a sister firm of the British mobile operator "3". The firm recently switched on its first 3G base station in Dublin and is engaged in some trials with firms.

The announcement of a deal between Hutchison and either O2 or Vodafone is likely to be politically sensitive, given that the two dominant operators decided not to offer this to Meteor.