The chief executive of Meteor Mobile Communications, Mr David Sims, has resigned suddenly after just 18 months with the State's third mobile phone firm.
He will be replaced by Mr Stewart Sherriff, who is currently senior vice-president of Meteor's majority shareholder, Western Wireless International.
The resignation of Mr Sims, which was announced by Meteor yesterday, follows a difficult period for the company since it was established in February 2001.
Subscriber numbers show Meteor has signed up just 118,000 customers in the past 18 months. Some experts also believe it has failed to challenge head-on the dominance of incumbent mobile networks, 02 and Vodafone, which retain 96 per cent of the market.
"The legal delays in the awarding of its licence really hurt Meteor," said Mr Darragh Stokes, managing director of independent consultants Hardiman Telecommunications.
"They missed the growth period in the market and, due to lower network coverage, have had problems attracting high-value subscribers."
Meteor said yesterday it had attained 82 per cent population coverage and it was likely the firm would introduce more innovative pricing plans to target the business sector shortly.
Likewise, the introduction of mobile number portability - which will enable subscribers to carry 087/086/085 prefixes with them when they change mobile networks - after next Christmas, should give a boost to the company.
Mr Sherriff, who will take over as chief executive of Meteor, has held senior positions in mobile companies in several countries such as Hong Kong, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
During his tenure with Western Wireless, he was a key participant in the build out, introduction and management of networks in every country in which the US mobile phone firm has invested.
Mr Brad Horowitz, Meteor chairman and Western Wireless president, said Mr Sims's experience meant he was well suited for the start-up nature of Meteor's market entry. "David has successfully completed the challenges that we set for him and we wish him well in his future endeavours."
