Telefonica O2 Ireland says its postpay customer base grew by 38,000 customers - up 5.4% - in the year to the end of December on the back of increased sales in mobile broadband and smartphones.
But its total mobile customer base by the end of the year fell to 1.696 million from 1.714 million by the end of 2009 as it lost some pre-pay customers.
O2 said its mobile broadband customer base rose by 164,000 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, up 29% on the same time in 2009. Its mobile broadband customer based stands at almost 170,000.
The number of O2 customers using smartphones jumped by 44% and as a result, the company said that data traffic on its network few by 53% in the fourth quarter compared to the same time in 2009.
The company said that its average revenue per user for the 12 months was €37, down from €39.6 in 2009. Average monthly minutes of use in the final quarter of 2010 rose to 237.7, up from 229.8 the same time last year.
O2 also said that a total of 3.343 billion texts were sent last year, up from 3.150 billion in 2009.
O2 Ireland's chief financial officer Paul Whelan said that while its customers used more of the company's services, they spent less.
'2010 was a very difficult year for the telecommunications industry, with the Irish economy still struggling to recover. Competition in the sector also increased significantly,' he added.
