Esat BT will undergo its second corporate rebranding in just two years, the Republic's second-biggest fixed-line telecoms firm confirmed yesterday.The company, which last July added the BT brand to its company name, will decide over the next two to three months whether to ditch the Esat brand name completely.

An Esat spokeswoman said the Esat name had some negative connotations but it also had some good values, such as innovation. She said a final decision would be taken following further research and would be implemented over a period of at least 12 months.

Regardless of the decision to drop the Esat brand - which is synonymous with Esat's founder Mr Denis O'Brien - Esat BT will have to change its current piper logo.

This follows the decision by British Telecom yesterday to replace its prancing piper logo, which has represented the company for more than a decade.

The telecoms giant will replace the piper with a multi-coloured ball.

BT said it wanted to ditch some of the negative baggage associated with the piper as the firm pushes for major improvements in customer service and BT's image as a whole.

The multi-coloured globe, which has already served as the logo for BT's internet service provider arm, Openworld, will replace the red and blue piper that the former telecoms monopoly unveiled in 1991.

Mr Angus Porter, managing director of BT Retail's consumer arm, said the piper had come to be associated with certain negative attitudes towards the firm.

"People have seen it as BT blowing its own trumpet," he said. But he added that he did not expect the logo alone to significantly change attitudes. - (Additional reporting Reuters)