Cable & Wireless, the US telecoms company, has launched a telephone service for business customers with a flat rate of 5p per minute for national calls and calls to Britain.

The company plans to invest some £30 million in the next year developing its VoiceLink service and a related suite of products with data, voice and corporate Internet and e-trading functions which it plans to launch later this year. "This will be invested in products, people and work infrastructure," said the managing director of its Irish operations, Mr Gordon Morrice.

While Cable & Wireless has previously focussed on the high-volume call-centre and big business market, its latest initiative signals a move into the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market.

Cable & Wireless currently provides telephone and network services to more than 3,500 business customers in the State.

Asked about its targets for VoiceLink, Mr Morrice said it hoped to secure 1,500 additional business customers in the next 12 months.

Mr Morrice said the company saw a significant opportunity in targeting its flat rate charge at the UK market. "Of international traffic as a whole, about 60-65 per cent of that traffic is into the UK, which is a high proportion for most businesses."

The company said it would refund double the difference on costs to customers who did not save money by using the new service.