O2 IRELAND increased its bill-pay customer base last year, adding 6,700 new customers in the final quarter of the year.

Bill-pay subscriber numbers increased by 5.4 per cent, or 38,000, in the 12 months to the end of December 2010, driven by increased uptake in mobile broadband and smartphones.

Mobile broadband customers rose to 164,000 by the end of the year and now stand at 170,000.

However, total mobile customers fell from 1.714 million at the end of 2009 to 1.696 million a year later, indicating the number of pre-pay users declined.

Service revenue also fell to €191 million for the fourth quarter, from €198 million in the preceding quarter and €207 million for the same period last year.

Monthly average revenue per user fell to €37 over the year.

Paul Whelan, chief financial officer for O2 Ireland said: “2010 was a very difficult year for the telecommunications industry, with the Irish economy still struggling to recover. Competition in the sector also increased significantly.”

O2’s parent, Telefonica, posted worse-than-expected results as performance in its home market, Spain, dragged down results. It posted a full-year net profit of €10.17 billion, up 30.8 per cent but below the €11.3 billion forecast.