Cable & Wireless, the telecommunications company, has announced its intention to be the latest entrant into the provision of advanced telecommunications services, after it unveiled a £50 million investment plan to lay its own cable infrastructure in Dublin and to locate three of its businesses in Shannon, Co Clare. Mr Dick Brown, chief executive, said that 300 extra jobs would be created initially, 200 in Dublin as the company concentrates on offering voice and data services to corporate clients - initially in the Dublin market - following derogation on December 1st.
"We will be an active competitor in the Irish telecoms market, focusing initially on the business customer," he said. The 100 jobs marked for Co Clare, in a Shannon Development backed scheme, will be created over the next three years, as Cable & Wireless establishes its Global Markets, Global Network and Global Card Services subsidiaries there.
The company currently employs about 200 people in the supply of telecom products and lines, and is based in Dublin. In its new role, it will compete against Telecom Eireann, Esat Telecom, British Telecom, MCI/ WorldCom and others, following liberalisation of the market on December 1st.
MCI and WorldCom are currently involved in a merger process, a condition of which has seen MCI divest itself of its wholesale Internet business to Cable & Wireless for $625 million (£422 million). It is expected to spend as much again in developing that network in the US.
"We are a very, very powerful force in Internet capability and we will be bringing that technology with the investment to Dublin," Mr Brown said.
He added that his company was attracted to Ireland because of the welcoming climate provided by the Government, the investment opportunities and the available workforce.
Cable & Wireless also has a joint venture partnership with Telecom Eireann, called Solas, laying a fibre-optic cable between Britain and Ireland. A Britain-based company, C&W operates in 70 countries worldwide and has a foothold in the Chinese market through its ownership of Hongkong Telecom. "There is no economy on earth that can do well unless it has an infrastructure of very strong communications," Mr Brown added.
