Telecoms operator Cable & Wireless (C&W) says it is "bucking the trend" of declining revenues in the telecoms sector.

Irish country director Noreen O'Hare also reveals the company is planning further investment in the telecoms sector and calls on the industry to improve its services to enterprise and residential customers.

Since joining Cable & Wireless more than two years ago, O'Hare has marshalled the growth in the company's business. A significant milestone was the acquisition of Energis, a provider of telecoms and internet services to residential and business, last November. The deal was valued at €914.6 million and propelled C&W into the position of third-largest telecoms operator in the Irish market.

Interestingly, and unlike the top two providers, it specialises in the provision of managed IP services to the enterprise sector and business partner channel. The acquisition of Energis crystallised its thinking and it now uses an indirect route to the residential and SME market courtesy of its resellers.

After restructuring following the acquisition of Energis, the company is now looking at broadening its portfolio and investing in the business to capitalise on the fact it has 1,300 customers in Ireland. O'Hare says C&W has investment plans to broaden the access reach throughout Ireland, so that its customers can use the applications and services that it provides.

"We will facilitate customers making use of our services to the likes of the MANS. We have an investment plan in place to facilitate that and to enhance our managed service proposition.

"Increasingly, we're seeing our customers looking to their telecoms provider not just to supply them with the service but to also take management responsibility for that service and to proactively handle the availability of the network for them."

O'Hare also says C&W had pumped €2.5 million into a venture to increase the transmission capacity between the UK and Ireland. "It's called Solas Ring and is intended to facilitate growth from our customer base in Ireland in terms of the capacity across the networks."

O'Hare believes that the state of the telco market could be a lot better, particularly on the service side.

"The market generally has a poor reputation for service on the consumer side. We've all experienced difficulties and been left feeling like we're not an important customer. But it's also prevalent on the enterprise side. What people accept as good levels of service are far from it.

"This is amazing given the increasing importance and reliance that business has on its telco infrastructure. So I think the industry needs a bit of a shake-up and we're up to leading that."

O'Hare says the change in the market and increased competition was good for all segments, with a lot of cash being spent and a lot of customers willing to place their money with the non incumbent player.

Despite the progress made in the telco market in the past few years, there are still considerable obstacles to surmount before the industry can be on par with some of its European counterparts.

O'Hare believes there are two main challenges - one as mentioned being an improvement in service to customers. The other would be a change in Eircom's attitude to its wholesale channel.

"Eircom views its wholesale operation as a necessary evil. In a mature market where competition is good for consumers, you find the incumbent has an approach where they view the wholesale part of their business as an alternative channel to market rather than a necessary evil. So that needs to transform and certainly from the discussions I've had with the new Eircom executives, that is high on their agenda."

As change progresses, will we see any player match the status of the incumbent by offering a diverse range of services that a company such as Eircom has available or will the other competitors always be carving out niches within the market?

O'Hare says in other countries where competition has become established and the market is more mature, the paradigm usually emerges where the alternative providers go after particular segments of the market and specialise there, be it residential or enterprise.

"Where things are most successful for consumers of telco products is where there are several players offering specialised services. I think that's the way things happen here generally - competition will be within particular segments of the market. It's difficult for any organisation to compete successfully across the entire spectrum of products that an incumbent has."

The Cable & Wireless country director also notes that because Eircom has traditionally been focused on the national marketplace, this has left the door open for operators such as C&W to acquire clients who have international requirements for their business.

"In fact there are some areas of the market where organisations can really lead and improve on the position that Eircom has," says O'Hare.

The regulator has been a bone of contention not just for the incumbent, but at times, for all the alternative suppliers in the telco market. Does O'Hare think regulation has been successful?

"The market in the Republic is not as mature as, for instance, the one in Northern Ireland. Here for understandable reasons, the regulatory environment is not that mature. There are, however, a number of teleco companies that use the regulator as an excuse and are constantly bashing it.

"There are issues that telcos need to address themselves and stop using the regulator as an excuse for their own shortcomings."