The telecommunications company, CableTel, which expects to offer its services to businesses in the State later this year, has increased its fibre-optic network in Britain after acquiring Comcast UK for $600 million (£428.5 million).

Comcast operates telephony/ cable networks in Cambridge and Teeside in England. It also holds a 50 per cent interest in Cable London and a 27.5 per cent interest in Birmingham Cable Corporation.

Mr Owen Lamont, managing director of CableTel Northern Ireland and Scotland, said it was currently establishing Dublin operations following deregulation in the sector. "I think there are a lot of customers who will see this as an opportunity," he said.

CableTel is owned by the US cable company, International CableTel, which also owns NTL, responsible for broadcasting the ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 stations among other network services.

The company estimates that, with the acquisition, it has more than 500,000 customers. CableTel has invested £30 million in building a network of three fibre-optic links connecting Britain and Ireland. It comprises one land-link and two submarine-links and is expected to be operational in July. The company has also invested £600 million in building a complete fibre optic network in the Northern Ireland. Mr Lamont added that CableTel would have the only Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) ring in Britain and Ireland.

"It means that if you have a ring of fibre, if it cuts out for whatever reason, the traffic immediately reroutes without any loss to the customer. The resilience will be second to none," he said.

The call traffic between Britain and Ireland is said to be among the top 10 busiest in the world, worth about £1 billion annually.