BT Ireland's revenues grow 27% to €220m

Revenues at telecoms group BT Ireland grew 27 per cent to €220 million in the six months to the end of September, the company said yesterday.

BT, which is the State's second biggest fixed-line telecoms player, said it had recorded double figure growth across all its businesses in the Republic.

The company said it had earnings before interest, tax and write-offs of €12 million.

It did not make a profit during the period, but expects to break even in the first three months of 2006, which will be the last quarter of its financial year. It did not reveal how much it lost during the period.

The group did not publish a balance sheet, but BT Ireland chief executive, Danny McLaughlin, described its balance sheet as "strong" in a statement.

Last week, the company bought IT products and services provider, Cara Group, for a reported €15 million. Mr McLaughlin said yesterday that the firm would continue to seek further acquisitions.

BT provides fixed-line telecoms services to businesses and domestic customers, largely through renting lines on a wholesale basis from the market's dominant player, Eircom.

It has 2,000 clients connected directly to exchanges through its own lines, and 30,000 to whom it is selling broadband services through lines rented at wholesale rates from Eircom.

Eircom recently published its proposals for opening up the link between its exchanges and end users - known as the "last mile" - to greater competition. This is considered vital to improving broadband development and access.

However, companies like BT and communications regulator, ComReg, reacted by saying its plans did not go far enough.

Mr McLaughlin yesterday welcomed the fact that communications minister Noel Dempsey told an industry conference that the Government would consider passing legislation to speed up liberalisation of the market.

"We're pleased that the Government has recognised that legislation may be needed to eliminate the broadband bottleneck and the detrimental impact that this is having on Ireland," he said.

Swisscom, Switzerland's state telecoms company, has made an initial takeover bid for Eircom. BT Ireland's chief operations officer, Mike Maloney, said yesterday that if the bid succeeds and Swisscom invests in developing Eircom's network, then this would be good for the overall market.

BT Ireland has been in talks with mobile operators O2 and Vodafone in an effort to secure a deal that would allow it to offer mobile services through their networks. However, these talks have stalled.