THE UK OUTFIT behind Carphone Warehouse will shutter its Irish mobile network after failing to secure a buyer for the company.
Almost three years after launching the brand here, Dixons Carphone put the Irish division of iD Mobile up for sale following multimillion-euro losses.
It was hoped that the service would be sold to a third-party. However, it was announced today that the High Court has appointed a provisional liquidator to oversee the closure of iD Mobile.
Tom Murray of financial consultancy Friel Stafford was appointed provisional liquidator and will manage the day-to-day operations of the company until it is wound up next month.
On 6 April, iD Mobile will cease to provide services here. All customers have been urged to switch to an alternative mobile network provider before that date.
A number of assets belonging to the company have been put up for sale and interested parties have been invited to fill out an online form.
As reported by Fora in June of last year, Dixons Carphone was on the lookout for a buyer for iD Mobile’s Irish unit after announcing that it would cease to operate the service here.
Glitzy launch
The network also operates in the UK, but in Ireland it is run as a ‘mobile virtual network operator’.
Such outfits do not have mobile networks of their own, instead using another operator’s network. iD Mobile uses Three’s mobile network.
Last year, Dixons Carphone said that the business model meant that while there was “excellent control”, there were also “upfront costs and increased administration”.
The iD Mobile brand had a high-profile launch in Ireland just two years ago and was mainly targeted at young adults.
It hoped to secure 6% of the Irish mobile market in five years, which would have translated to about 250,000 customers. The company said it had 40,000 customers before the closure was announced.
According to company accounts, iD Mobile Ireland generated sales of £5 million (€5.7 million) in the year to the end of April 2017, however the business reported losses of £10 million during that period.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article included an estimate that iD Mobile had 19,000 customers before its closure, however the company has since stated that it had 40,000 customers.
Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie
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