eircom looking for state help to lease mobile airtime

Former fixed line monopoly operator eircom has called on the Irish government for help as it prepares to enter the mobile arena as a reseller. The telco’s chief executive Philip Nolan says that he will ask for government intervention as he struggles to reach an agreement to lease airtime from the country’s mobile operators. eircom sold its mobile subsidiary eircell to Vodafone in 2001, but now feels the time is right to re-enter the market as a means of boosting revenues.