One More Thing:It's been a busy week for cable television operator NTL, which is owned by UPC Ireland. Having taken a battering in the media, the company yesterday confirmed that it was scrapping plans to introduce a €2 levy for those not prepared to pay their bills by direct debit.

On Monday, meanwhile, NTL announced details of its combined voice and broadband offering, which is being made available in parts of Dublin. It costs a competitive €24 a month and promises to provide some much-needed competition to Eircom in the landline market.

NTL is already the second-biggest provider of broadband here after Eircom, with more than 55,000 customers. It now hopes to grab a share of the landline market. Hopefully, its latest foray into fixed-line telecoms will be more successful that its last one.

In October 2004, NTL axed its residential phone service. The company rang customers in south Dublin and told them to unplug their phones immediately, as they were a potential hazard, and to find an alternative operator, paying a reported €50,000 in compensation to angry householders.