VODAFONE IS to spend some €15 million on its entry into the Irish fixed-line voice and broadband market.

Ireland's biggest mobile operator yesterday unveiled plans to offer a bundled package of home phone and broadband, from €49 a month.

Called Vodafone At Home, subscribers will get 2MB always-on broadband, telephone line rental and free local and national fixed-line calls. In addition, customers will get free calls to three Vodafone mobile numbers and they will not be charged a connection fee.

Subscribers can get a faster internet connection for €59 a month, and Vodafone is charging €49 for modems.

Vodafone Ireland chief executive Charles Butterworth said the packages would offer consumers savings "well north of €100 a year" on comparable Eircom packages.

This has the potential to be the biggest threat to Eircom's stranglehold on the fixed-line market.

Vodafone yesterday said its customer base rose by 87,500 in the year to the end of March 2008. In addition, the firm's recent acquisition of Perlico added 62,500 telephone and broadband subscribers, bringing Vodafone's total customer numbers to 2.33 million.

Vodafone's own mobile broadband customer base reached 75,000 by the end of March, up from 20,000 a year earlier.

The company is now the second-biggest broadband provider in the Irish market, behind Eircom. This is a strong base from which to launch an assault on the fixed-line market. "We think there is tremendous growth potential in the fixed-line broadband market," Mr Butterworth told The Irish Times.

"We have the clear aspiration to be the leading provider of total communications in Ireland."

He declined to say how many fixed-line customers Vodafone hopes to win in its first year in this market.

Vodafone will piggyback on the Eircom network by taking a wholesale package from the incumbent.

In response to Vodafone's announcement, Eircom said: "Since the acquisition of [ mobile provider] Meteor, Eircom has been operating in both fixed and mobile markets. The announcement by Vodafone underlines the importance of fixed-line networks and recognises that Eircom's network delivers quality voice and broadband services."

Mobile operator 3 poured cold water on Vodafone's move. A source close to the company said it was an attempt by Vodafone to stem declining revenues from its 2G broadband package. This was rejected by Mr Butterworth. "Broadband is a successful business for us," he said.

O2, Vodafone's biggest mobile rival here, is also thought to be looking at entering the fixed-line market. It is understood to have held detailed negotiations with both Smart Telecom and Magnet, although it is not clear whether either deal will eventually be inked.

Vodafone's Irish results published yesterday show that its average revenue per user reduced by 1.3 per cent to €44 in the three months to the end of March. It said the total voice minutes used on its Irish network between January and March rose by 9.3 per cent year-on-year to 1.55 million. Text usage increased by 22 per cent to 936 million over the same period.

No financial figures were released for the Irish business.

Its British-based parent reported global revenues of £35.5 billion for last year, a rise of 14.1 per cent on the previous year. Its group operating profit rose by 5.7 per cent to £10.1 billion.

The company, which has several hundred thousand Irish shareholders, announced an 11.1 per cent increase in its dividend payment to 7.51 pence.

Vodafone also said its chief executive Arun Sarin will retire at the end of its annual meeting on July 29th. He will be succeeded by his deputy Vittorio Colao.