Figures from mobile operator Vodafone show that it added 68,000 new customers to its Irish base in the three months to the end of December, bringing its total to 1.87 million.
The company's average revenue per user figure for Ireland was €582 for the whole of 2003. This compares with £303 sterling in Britain and €311 in Germany.
ComReg yesterday said that Irish ARPU figures were much higher than those in other EU countries. The mobile phone companies have argued that this is because of higher usage, but ComReg said the evidence for this was 'inconclusive'.
This morning's Vodafone figures also show that text messages accounted for more than 20% of revenue in Ireland in 2003, compared with an average of 11% across the Vodafone group.
Overall, Vodafone added 4.3 new customers in the three months to the end of December, giving a worldwide total of 130.4 million.
