Vodafone Ireland Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vodafone Group, is a mobile phone network and broadband provider in the Republic of Ireland. It was created when the Vodafone Group bought Eircell, the mobile arm of Telecom Éireann. As of September 2019, Vodafone has 26% of broadband subscribers (including 40% of fiber to the premises subscribers), and 43% of mobile phone subscribers. The company operates a full range of voice, SMS, MMS and mobile data services using a 2G GSM 900/1800 network and a 3G UMTS 900/2100 network capable of offering a range of broadband services including DC-HSPA+ which can deliver up to a theoretical 43.2Mbit/s. Their 4G network was launched in October 2013. Vodafone claims over 99% of the island of Ireland is covered by their 4G network within the Republic. Vodafone 4G operates on the 800/1800 network offering speeds of up to 75Mbit/s. They have also built a new kind of 4G called 4G+ which enables speeds of 225Mbit/s on devices that support this and the initial roll out of this service was in major towns and cities first becoming more widespread over time. Vodafone 4G is available to over 6 cities and 500 towns in the Republic of Ireland making Vodafone the strongest and most widespread 4G service offered in Ireland. Their 5G service was launched in 2019. Vodafone Ireland offers a full range of contract (bill pay) and prepay services, including mobile telephony and mobile broadband. The company also offers a range of fixed-line services including traditional telephone services, ADSL2+, FTTC (VDSL2) and FTTH high speed broadband. These services are delivered using SIRO, Open Eir, and NBI's wholesale access networks with Vodafone's own back-haul capacity. In some areas, Vodafone has made use of Local-Loop Unbundling (LLU) and has its own equipment in the local exchange operated in partnership with BT Ireland Numbers issued by Vodafone Ireland usually start with 087 (+353 87), however full number portability is in use in Ireland so the mobile prefix is not a reliable indicator of which network the number is hosted on. Eircell Eircell commenced operation in 1986 as the Mobile and Broadcast division of Telecom Éireann. The GSM network went live on July 1993. Eircell handled the Irish mobile phone networks defined by the access codes 088 (analogue TACS system) and 087 (digital GSM 900 system) from 1984 until its transfer to Vodafone in 2001. Usage of the