Communications giant Ericsson will invest "several hundred million dollars" in the next year on the expansion of its research and development operation in Ireland.

This will mean an additional 600 staff, most of them software engineers, in three locations: Dublin and Athlone, where the group already has facilities, and Cork.

It is understood the research and development will focus on the m-commerce or mobile Internet access area.

After a lunch in Dublin yesterday with the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, Ericsson's president Mr Kurt Hellstrom said a meeting of the full Ericsson board had been held here and the company intended to continue to grow in Ireland.

"Our expansion will be in the software area. Most of the software is done in micro-electronics design," he said, while declining to give very much information about precise plans.

But he said that "concrete plans" had been put in place.

The investment is likely to be at least $200 million (#228.9 million).

"We think m-commerce is going to be not only important - really the key area.

"It's part of what I would call mobile Internet, where you can really have a mobile device to surf the Net, do transactions, sell and buy and even entertain. That is what we believe is going to be the real growth area.

"Today, you can access portals; it takes you 20 to 22 seconds to get into it. If you have a packet you are connected all the time.

"If you're already in, it will take two seconds. You want to be instant. That is what the Japanese have. That is based on packet data," he said.

Mr Hellstrom said Ericsson provided the solutions to operators and service providers. "We won't be an operator of services because we don't want to compete with our customers," he said.

Asked if he considered Ericsson would have any trouble recruiting the R & D engineers it required in Ireland, he said: "I remember, five, six, seven years ago when we wanted software engineers, sometimes there were 40-50 applicants per position.

"Now it's much more difficult because companies have come here and also a lot of Irish companies have started, so the environment is getting more competitive. So, we have to work hard, but still it's very favourable." Ericsson invests about 15 per cent of turnover in R & D every year; it was around $4.6 billion last year.

In Ireland, 1,200 of its 2,300 workforce are engaged in R & D, about 5 per cent of the total R & D staff in the group.

The group, the State's largest software house, has operations in Clonskeagh and Dun Laoghaire in Dublin and in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

Between wages and services, Ericsson's Irish operation is worth about £150 million (#190.6 million) to the economy each year.