Vodafone Ireland is considering further price cuts to combat those announced by its main competitor, O2 Ireland, earlier this week. O2 cut charges for pre-paid services by between one and eight cent and extended its off-peak period, when calls are cheapest, to 16 hours from 12 hours.

Mr Paul Donovan, chief executive of Vodafone Ireland, argued that O2's cuts were a response to reductions that Vodafone had introduced earlier this summer, including a three cent a-minute charge for pre-paid calls made on Sundays.

However, he indicated that the company would consider further reductions as a response to the O2 move.

"We will look very carefully at it and we will do whatever is necessary to remain competitive," he said. He added that it was inevitable that mobile charges across the Irish market would continue to fall.

Vodafone Ireland announced yesterday that it had appointed former Eircom chief executive Mr Alfie Kane and former secretary of the Department of the Taoiseach Mr Paddy Teahon as non-executive directors.

Last year, Mr Teahon resigned from the board of Campus Stadium Ireland Development, the company entrusted with developing the national stadium in west Dublin, in a controversy over the appointment of Dublin Waterworld to run the National Aquatic Centre element of the project.

Vodafone Ireland had operating profits of €196 million in Ireland in the six months to September 30th. This was €100 million more than the figure reported by O2 Ireland earlier this week.

It announced yesterday that the number of its customers on its Irish network grew by 98,000 to just more than 1.8 million in the year to September 30th. O2 has 1.2 million customers.

Its average revenue per user (ARPU) was €576 a-year, compared with €532 in 2002. Bill-paying customers' ARPU was €1,109 while pre-paid ARPU was €354.

It also said that its average customer used their phone for 183 minutes a month, which is 45 per cent higher than the group's average. The company said that data accounted for 20 per cent of its revenues, which was one of the strongest performances at this side of its business at group level.

Vodafone Ireland is the Irish subsidiary of London and New York-listed global mobile group Vodafone. More than 400,000 Irish people hold an average of almost 250 shares each in the group as a result of its takeover two years ago of Eircom's former mobile division, Eircell.