Eir (telecommunications)

Eircom Limited
Company typeSubsidiary (incorporated in Jersey, Number 116389, and registered as a branch in Ireland, Number 907674)
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded6 September 1999; 25 years ago (1999-09-06) in Dublin, Ireland[1]
Headquarters2 Heuston South Quarter, St John's Rd W, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, Ireland
Area served
Ireland
United Kingdom
Key people
Oliver Loomes
(CEO)
David McRedmond
(Non-Executive Chairman)[2]
Products
Revenue€1.265 billion (FY 14/15)
€1.3 billion (FY 15/16E)
Number of employees
3,437
ParentIliad SA
SubsidiariesEir Mobile
Open Eir
Eir Business NI
Eir UK
Eir Sport
GoMo[3]
Websitewww.eir.ie

Eircom Limited, trading as Eir (/ɛər/ AIR; stylised eir), is a large fixed, mobile and broadband telecommunications company in Ireland. The company, which is currently incorporated in Jersey, traces its origins to the Ireland's former state-owned monopoly telecommunication provider Telecom Éireann and its predecessors, P&T (the Dept. of Posts and Telegraphs) and before the foundation of the state, the telecommunications division of the GPO. It remains the largest telecommunications operator in Ireland and has overseas operations focused on the business and corporate telecom markets in the United Kingdom. The company was in majority state ownership until 1999, when it was privatised through a floatation on the Irish and New York Stock Exchanges.

Eir is currently majority owned by Xavier Niel's Iliad SA and his Paris-based NJJ Telecom Europe investment fund (64.5%).[4] The group includes French telecommunications provider Free and Iliad Italia.[5] Other major investors include Anchorage Capital Group (26.6%), and Davidson Kempner (8.9%).[4]

Eir operates a wholesale fixed-line network through its Open Eir unit, providing copper and fibre based access products to a wide range of Irish telecommunications companies. Its services include next generation access products, such as FTTH, FTTC (VDSL) and legacy copper based services, including ADSL and classic digital circuit switched products like PSTN and ISDN. It also offers a range of legacy leased line services.

The company's retail division markets these services directly to homes and businesses, and includes value added services like Eir TV and voice over broadband for home users and a wide range of digital services tailored to business customers.

Eir operates a national mobile network both under its own Eir brand and GoMo, a value-focused, online-only sub-brand. The network provides 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G services and ancillary services such as WiFi Calling and VoLTE.

  1. ^ "Irish Company And Irish Director Information Searches - SoloCheck". www.solocheck.ie. Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Oliver Loomes appointed as eir CEO-designate". 12 January 2022. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  3. ^ Short, Eva (15 October 2019). "Eir launches new GoMo digital mobile brand and €9.99 'unlimited' data offer". Silicon Republic. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b Rosemain, Mathieu; Barzic, Gwénaëlle; Humphries, Conor (20 December 2017). "French telecoms tycoon Niel to take over Ireland's eir in $770 million deal". Reuters. Retrieved 13 February 2021..
  5. ^ "Niel raises Iliad stake to tighten Eir grip". Independent.ie. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.