BT drops ‘Esat’ name


12 Apr 2005

Ireland’s second-largest fixed telecoms provider Esat BT has announced that it is to be renamed BT Ireland. By doing so it has finally severed ties with the telecoms firm it purchased from businessman Denis O’Brien in 2000.

The company said the new name would allow it to capitalise fully on the global BT brand. “Our transition to BT Ireland signifies our intention to continue competing vigorously across Ireland and around the world and raise the standard of products and services available to both corporate customers and consumers, enabling Ireland to better compete on a global stage,” said Bill Murphy, CEO of BT Ireland.
BT also re-affirmed its commitment to Ireland by saying it would invest a further €100m in the rollout of broadband and that DSL would continue to be central to the firm’s broadband strategy. The company had unbundled 40 telephone exchanges to date and plans to unbundle many more, said Murphy.

“Broadband is at the very heart of the Government’s agenda to create a world-class knowledge economy and we will play our part in support of this imperative through further investment in local-loop unbundling. This is central to our strategy.”

The company also announced a new consumer service that will see BT Ireland pay more than half of a household’s monthly land-line rental when customers sign up for broadband and land line together.

BT Ireland employs 930 people in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

By Brian Skelly