| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
087 is the usual STD prefix for mobile phone numbers serviced by Vodafone, however, following introduction of full number portabillity by the Commission for Communications Regulation, some subscribers may have 085 or 086 prefixes instead.
The company also sponsored Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? whilst it ran in RTÉ television.
Eircell handled the Irish mobile phone networks defined by the access codes 088 (analogue TACS system) and 087 (digital GSM 900 system) as part of Telecom ÉireannTelecom Eireann or formally Bord Telecom Eireann The Irish Telecommunications Board was created by the Postal & Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, Ireland, under the leadership of the Minister for Posts & Te since 1984 until its transfer to Vodafone in 2001, initially called Eircell Vodafone before full rebranding. Eircell, which commenced operation in 1986 as a division of Telecom Éireann, usage of the service remained low until it became a separate subsidary, Eircell Limited, in 1997. The pre-pay mobile service "Ready To Go" was introduced in the late 1990s and turned mobile communications in Ireland into a mass-market product. However Eircell gained competition from Esat Digifone, then a joint venture between Denis O'BrienDenis O'Brien is an Irish entrepreneur. He made his name in the late 1990s by selling his mobile phone network Esat Digifone to BT, netting himself several hundred million pounds in the process. His current investments include stakes in Digicel, Dublin's's Esat Telecom Group plc and Telenor AB of Norway. In 2000, Vodafone made an offer for the company, which saw the company demerge from Eircom plc into a separate plc, Eircell 2000 plc (trading name: Eircell Vodafone), which was then acquired by Vodafone. In 2002, Eircell Vodafone was rebranded as Vodafone Ireland plc.
Vodafone saw Eircell undergo a major rebranding exercise on its accquisition by the group. The main rebranding was to associate a shade of deep purpleAlternate uses: Purple (disambiguation Purple is any of a group of colors intermediate between blue and red. On a chromaticity diagram, the straight line connecting the extreme spectral colors ( red and violet) is known as the line of purples (or purple b with the company. When Vodafone rebranded with their trademark shade of redRed is a color at the lowest frequencies of light discernible by the human eye. Red light has a wavelength of roughly 700 nm. Oxygenated blood is red due to the presence of hemoglobin. Red light is the first to be absorbed by sea water, so that many fish, the tagline used was "red is the new purple, Vodafone is the new name for Eircell".
Vodafone Ireland introduced UMTS services (branded "Vodafone live! with 3G") in 2004, launching the first handsets in November. This means they are ahead of O2 IrelandO2 Ireland was originally created as Esat Digifone in 1997, as part of Esat Telecom been the second company to be awarded a GSM licence; currently the company is the second largest mobile phone operator in Ireland with approxiamately 40% share or 1. 27 mi and 3 Ireland in launching UMTS services.