Vodafone Ireland made the first commercial third (3G) generation mobile call in the Republic yesterday but said that it would take up two years before the technology reached a mass market.
The company, which has more than 1.6 million subscribers in the Republic, said it had switched on its 3G network and was offering some key customers access to the new technological standard.
Third-generation technology enables firms to provide multimedia, internet access and video services at very high speeds to mobile devices. Vodafone said its 3G services would enable data speeds of up to 144 kilobytes per second, or five times faster than existing 2.5G technologies allow.
The new 3G service will be available in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway as well as a number of other towns across the state.
The firm did not launch with a working video phone service yesterday but expects to introduce this later in the year. Its initial 3G services will be based around offering companies faster access to the internet on the move.
Mr Paul Donovan, Vodafone Ireland managing director, said the firm would launch a consumer 3G service before the end of the year. But he said he did not expect the new technology to become a mass market service for between 18 and 24 months.
"I'm extremely bullish on the future of the mobile phone industry but I'm cautious on this particular issue \," said Mr Donovan. "I was quite clear that in an ideal world I would have liked the terms of the 3G licences to be relaxed by the regulator."
Initially viewed as a licence to print money, companies are now viewing their 3G investments with a greater deal of scepticism.
Many firms have delayed building out 3G networks across Europe due to the huge cost of launching a viable service.
Vodafone Ireland's 3G network is the first commercial launch made by a Vodafone group firm in Europe.
Vodafone Ireland had asked the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) to relax strict roll-out requirements contained within its 3G licence. But this was subsequently refused by ComReg, which is keen to make the Republic one of the first European states with a 3G network up and running.
