Eircom will seek to become a mobile virtual network operator of third-generation mobile phones (3G) in Britain by buying airtime from either Vodafone or TIW UMTS, the successful bidders for licences A and B in the British auction.

The bidding war ended yesterday, when NTL, which owns Cablelink in the Republic, dropped out of the race. The five licences, which were the subject of a cut-throat bidding war, eventually fetched £22.5 billion sterling (€38.9 billion).