The popularity of Esat with investors highlights the massive growth potential in the mobile telecommunications sector worldwide. Companies in this sector are viewed as high-growth plays.

BCP Stockbrokers notes that Europe has been at the forefront in boosting mobile penetration. Scandinavia has the highest usage per head of population with 50 per cent of consumers using mobile phones.

In Britain, France and Germany the growth has been much slower, with up to 16 per cent of the population connected to the various mobile phone networks.

Trends in the leading markets such as Sweden show that despite high penetration levels, there is still great potential for further growth which could rise to more than 70 per cent within the next five years. Less developed markets are also showing signs of acceleration in mobile phone usage.

BCP recommends that investors should seek to have some exposure to this high-growth sector, tipping British mobile phone groups Vodafone and Orange as good bets. Two other British operators, Cellnet and One2One are also mentioned. Both shares have rallied strongly recently but there has also been some profit taking, which should provide buying opportunities for investors, according to BCP. It suggests that Vodafone should provide stronger growth in the long term than Orange but that investors may want to hold both stocks based on the very favourable sectoral fundamentals.