A Scandinavian connection may ease the bitter rivalry between phone companies Telecom Eireann and Esat Telecom.

Telenor, the Norwegian state operator and Telia, the Swedish state operator, may soon be linking up. Telenor is Esat's partner in Digifone, the second mobile phone operator, and Telia is one half of the partnership which has bought a 20 per cent stake in Telecom.