Digifone, the Irish mobile phone arm of British Telecom, has reported strong growth in the second quarter of the year, with its customer base rising 11 per cent to 1.1 million customers. The vast bulk of the new subscribers - some 100,000 - were pre-paid with 8,000 new contract accounts.

Turnover in the quarter rose by £21 million sterling (€34 million) to £98 million and earnings before interest, tax and depreciation doubled to £31 million. Capital expenditure fell from £31 million to £25 million.