Updated 02/08/2017:

​Meteor has announced it will cease it's operations in Ireland by September 2017. The Meteor brand will be phased out and Meteor's 750,000 customers will become Eir Mobile customers. Coverage and plans will remain the same following the rebranding and Eir has promised the rebranding will further increase its ability to be at the forefront of telecoms innovation in Ireland. Eir also announced that it has reached 96% 4G population coverage, putting it within 1% of Vodafone's 97% 4G Population footprint.
The smallest of the three Mobile Networks in Ireland, and the only 'Irish' network, Meteor serves over 1.2 million customers in the Republic of Ireland. A subsidiary of Eir following their merger in 2005 for €420m, Meteor has grown ever since and was the first to introduce 4G LTE in Ireland. The network provides 2G, 3G and 4G coverage for all of it's and Eir's customers, and has struggled in recent years to maintain it's 21% market share as Vodafone continues to attract more and more customers. Meteor provide prepay, billpay and mobile broadband services and are Ireland's second largest network in terms of Coverage and Speed, falling short of Vodafone who remain the industry leaders. Without a doubt, Meteor has made significant progress in recent years which is admirable for a network that continues to provide some of the best plans on the market. Patently, Three's acquisition of O2 was frightening for Meteor as they had to now continue to cut prices to attract new customers. It's extremely rare that I say this about any network, including Vodafone, but I think that Meteor is the best network for the vast majority of people in Ireland today. Meteor has built a network that has everything a customer should want: excellent coverage, speed and reliability, good prices and plans, and great customer care.

Coverage, Quality and Speed

It's commonly viewed in the eyes of the public of being a cheap and cheerful network. However that's very wrong. Meteor has made the most progress of any of Ireland's mobile networks in the past three years. They were the first to launch 4G. It was looking like Vodafone had run away from the competition with the largest 4G network by a long shot but that has changed drastically. Meteor recently committed to investing €50m to continue to improve and extend their 4G network. As of today Meteor customers enjoy 95% 4G population coverage, just shy of Vodafone's 97% and miles ahead of Three's 79%. Meteor also followed Vodafone by introducing HD Voice last year which saw customers call quality improve dramatically. Whether Three wants to admit it or not, their network does not come anywhere near the quality and reliability of Meteor. Also another high point to note is Meteor's 4G speeds. According to both ComReg and Ookla, Meteor has the second fastest 4G network in Ireland after Vodafone and well ahead of Three. Conversely, Switcher found Meteor/Eir to be Ireland's fastest network and RootMetrics found them to beat Vodafone in some network tests in Cork and Limerick. Wherever you live, Meteor will most likely have you covered with their 4G network. The only gripe I have with Meteor's network is its frequent blackspots. While Vodafone has an excellent 3G and 4G network, Meteor's 3G network is ironically smaller than its 4G network, commonly leaving you with little or no service in areas where 4G remains unavailable.​ On the whole, Meteor's network is now within a stone throw of Vodafone's, easily trumps Three's and continues to offer an outstanding mobile data experience. 
Meteor 4G Coverage
Three 4G Coverage

PrePay: Plans and Pricing

Meteor's prepay plans are some of the best in the industry. They prioritise data, something it's biggest competitor, Vodafone continues to ignore. These plans have improved hugely over the past year with some of the plans offering 400% more data than before for the same price. Meteor's €20 prepay plan offers three times the amount of data for the same price on Vodafone. And things get even better when you learn what tricks Meteor has managed to devise. That 15GB of data is not used up by the most popular apps. Meteor has zero-rated apps and services including YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Viber, Whatsapp and Instagram. This is simply amazing because services such as Facebook and especially YouTube can eat up vast amounts of your data. So customers can essentially use the most popular social media services as much as they want and have 15GB left over for services such as Netflix and Spotify. On the same plan you get unlimited calls or texts to anyone in Ireland. For €30 you get the same amount of data with the added benefit of zero-rated services along with unlimited talk and text to anyone in Ireland. Both plans offer 4G as standard. Meteor also offers a €10 plan giving customers 7.5GB of data. While this plan doesn't permit use on Meteor's 4G network, it's the most data you can get for the least amount of money anywhere in Ireland and England. To be honest with you, I've always complemented Three for having the best plans in the industry but I think Meteor has really upped its game giving customers more choice and benefits. Meteor's zero-rated service is simply ingenious and innovative.
Meteor recently announced that new customers who join Meteor's €20 Prepay plan will get Unlimited Calls and Texts in addition to 15GB of 4G Data that includes the zero-rated service mentioned earlier. This plan now offers more value than Three's famous €20 plan and should be considered by anyone looking for a great deal that includes lots of calls, texts and data for an excellent price.

Billpay: Plans and Phones

​When it comes to Billpay Sim Only Meteor offers the most choice of any network in Ireland. You can choose from four plans. The best two plans are priced €30 and €35. You get the same amount of calls, texts and data as Meteor's preay €30 plan and keep the benefits of zero-rating and also receive 1GB of data to use in the EU. However, Meteor brands this 1GB roaming data as 'Free EU Roaming' on their website which is both misleading and false, if it was free you'd be able keep your domestic allowance, something that has been a huge topic of controversy with Three in the past few weeks. €35 gets you 30GB of data including zero-rating, unlimited calls & texts, 1GB EU data and 50 international calls & texts. 'Free EU Internet' or 1GB of data is only available on 3G so you won't be whizzing along watching Netflix or YouTube while abroad on 4G, something that is unique to Vodafone. All of Meteor's Sim Only plans are 30 Day contracts so you're free to move network pretty much whenever you want.
Meteor provides four Billpay plans which are significantly more expensive than their prepay and Billpay Sim Only alternatives. Their plans are far better priced and offer more calls, texts and data than that of Vodafone but are inferior in comparison to Three's Billpay options. I would strongly advise you to buy your phone outright and not to go down the billpay road which will end up costing you thousands of euro by the end of your contact. And by the way, you better love the contract you're in because you'll be stuck in it for two years. Once again, Meteor falsely claim on three of their Billpay plans that you get 'Free EU Internet', thats a lie, it's 1GB. €45 gets you 10GB of zero-rated data, unlimited texts, 400 minutes and that meagre 1GB EU Internet Data. Cough up an extra €10 every month and for €55 you get 15GB of zero-rated data with unlimited calls & texts and 1GB EU roaming data. If you're feeling really generous you can fork out €65 every month, equating to €1560 over the duration of your 24 month contract (Excluding taxes & fees such as overages and roaming charges) and get 30GB of zero-rated data, unlimited calls & texts, 50 International calls & texts in addition to that 1GB EU Data. If you're a sports fan, Meteor's got you covered so you can enjoy Eir Sport free on three of their Billpay Plans. Quite Frankly, while Meteor's Sim Only plans are perhaps some of the best available, I don't recommend Meteor for Billpay, especially when you consider some of the offers available on networks such as Three.
A strong point of Meteor's billpay services is the wide variety of phones available. All the popular phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S8, Apple iPhone 8 and Huawei P10 are covered. Less popular phones from companies such as Alcatel, Doro, HTC and Sony are also provided on Meteor's billpay service. I would like to see phones such as LG's G6, Google's Pixel and Honor's 5X however those phones aren't available on any other Irish mobile network anyway. It's encouraging to see Meteor frequently slashing the price of their phones via their online website and offer discounts for people switching from other networks to Meteor's billpay service. As a wrap, Meteor's Sim Only service is outstanding and offers more choice than any other network, their Billpay service, while expensive allows you to choose from a great selection of phones. I'm willing to forget about their false claims of 'Free EU Internet' being 1GB because their plans are actually very attractive and suit everyone from grandma to teenagers alike.

Shown below are the phones available on Meteor's Billpay Service.

Help and Support

Meteor or Eir's support has long had a bad reputation, but it has seen tremendous improvements in the last couple of years. Its customer service representatives are quick to help solve issues, and transferring both into and away from the network is a joy. A few years ago, if you had a bizarre phone bill come in the mail or made a mistake and owed more than you expected, Meteor would hold you responsible for paying it off, whatever the amount. Today, the cell phone service provider works with you to fix such issues until they are resolved. You can contact Meteor using all the modern ways of communicating with a company including via their Twitter or Facebook account, their email, their call helpline or their livechat service. Now this might come as a surprise that Meteor has great customer support, considering they are a subsidiary of Eir, a company plagued with a terrible reputation for customer care and ranked the most complained about telecommunications company by ComReg. All in all, if you have a problem as small as a phone call not setting up,  text not sending or an issue with coverage you'll be well looked after by one of Meteor's agents.

Verdict: Is Meteor worth your Money?

It used to be the weakest of the top three nationwide phone companies, but Meteor keeps working its way up the ladder. It can't match the breadth of 4G coverage Vodafone's customers enjoy, but its speed in populated areas blows Three out of the water and it's coverage has almost doubled in the past two years. Its More than you can Eat Data, free Eir Sport Service and Free EU Internet (1GB) programs give you practically unlimited data for comparatively low prices.
With no contracts or termination fees on the most comprehensive Sim Only service in Ireland, and the ability to pay for your expensive new smartphone over time, Meteor has taken the best elements of the phone plans at both big networks such as Three and Vodafone and prepaid phone companies such as iD Mobile and Lycamobile and combined them. I would like to congratulate Meteor, it's been a tough few years following Three's merger with O2 and Eircom's rebranding to Eir ,and yet Meteor has made the most progress of any network and I think Vodafone ,and especially Three will feel the competitive pressure from a network that offers some of the best plans, coverage and speeds around very soon. If you're looking for a new phone provider, it’s worth checking whether Meteor offers 4G LTE in your area. As long as you’re covered, its balance of price and performance is tough to beat. To answer your question, yes Meteor is certainly worth your money.