UPC, the cable and broadband company owned by Liberty Global that has just acquired TV3 for €87m, is likely to brand the new mobile phone service it plans to launch here later this year as Virgin Mobile, the same franchise as it owns in the UK, according to sources familiar with the process.

The company provides cable, broadband and landline phone services in Ireland and has just announced that it added 7,300 new service subscriptions during the first half of the year, a 1 percent increase to just under 1.1m subscriptions.

The company’s actual customer numbers at 505,000 and cable TV subscribers at 319,000 are understood to have remained relatively flat quarter-on-quarter.

On completion of the acquisition of TV3, the Irish station will become part of Liberty Global, an international telecommunications and television company which also owns Virgin Media in the UK.

The TV deal included an additional contingent consideration of up to €7 million payable based on TV3 hitting certain targets.