Telecom Éireann
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Telecom Éireann, or formally Bord Telecom Éireann - 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 & Telegraphs. Prior to this time the Department of Posts and Telegraphs provided a postal and telephones system as part of the civil service.
In 1986 Eircell commenced operation as the mobile phone division of Telecom Éireann. The company introduced a Minitel system into Ireland in 1992 but this was largely a failure and faded from public attention quickly. A number of other companies came together in 1988 with a plan to use the system for shopping and information. In 1997 Telecom Internet, the Internet service provider of the company, became one of the partners in the Internet Neutral Exchange.
Telecom Éireann became Eircom in 1999 after being privatised, and was later split into Eircell, the mobile networks business, and Eircom, the fixed-line business which also inherited other minor divisions, such as the Eirpage pager system and the Telecom retail arm. Eircell was sold to Vodafone in May 2001, and later changed its name to Vodafone Ireland.
