Meteor parent queries State's telecoms standing

Ireland's reputation as being ahead of many other countries in terms of mobile and fixed-line telecommunications is a myth, according to Western Wireless International, the firm which has an 80 per cent stake in mobile phone operator Meteor. Mr Peter Quinn, vice-president of European operations at Western Wireless, yesterday criticised the planning process as the key element holding back the development of the State's telecoms infrastructure and said that among the countries in which it operated, Ireland was the slowest and most challenging State in which to roll out a network. The company plans to have antennae in 400 sites across the country by the end of the year and currently has 74 per cent coverage, he said. Meteor is understood to have more than 70,000 customers. In February at its launch the firm said it planned to have 100,000 customers by end of its first year of operations.