There is no basis for the claim in yesterday's Sunday Times that France Telecom is involved in talks with Eircom for the purchase of a 29.9 per cent in the recently, and controversially, floated Irish telephone company, Mr Gerry O'Sullivan, Eircom's spokesman, said yesterday.

He said the only thing he could say was that Eircom was in discussions with various companies, as it had disclosed all along.

"The only other comment is that there no basis to this story," he insisted.

The Sunday Times quoted "senior industry sources" as saying that negotiations were at an advanced stage and that an agreement could be signed within weeks.

Ms Milou du Castel, a spokeswoman for France Telecom, said in Paris yesterday that she told the Sunday Times that the story was incorrect but that they used it anyway.