RON BOLGER has been chairman of Telecom Eireann during five years of rapid change. His term of office expires in December, but he would now like to stay on to oversee the company's entry into a new era of competition.

Since he arrived in 1992 the company has undergone rapid changes. But there is much more to come, as markets are liberalised and competition intensifies. Telecom has just announced a strong performance for the year to end March. Pre tax profits rose by 76 per cent to £204 million and the company reduced customer charges by £65 million.

Debt was reduced by £330 million to £373 million helped by the cash injection from the company's new strategic partner, KPN/Telia. Meanwhile, turnover rose by 11 per cent to £1.22 billion.

For Telecom Eireann the question now is: Can the company repeat this financial performance in the face of intensifying competition and the need to cut prices? Price cuts of £80 million, promised this year, are expected to be repeated in the following two years, at a cost of £240 million in lost revenue. The infrastructural end of the market provision of telephone lines to business customers will be open to all comers from July 1st, building up to full open competition in the year 2000. Already ESAT and CIE have announced a linkup to develop an alternative telecoms infrastructure. Further, British Telecom is known to be in negotiations with the ESB with the same coal in mind.

While Ron Bolger is not disturbed by growing competition, he knows that Telecom Eireann has a lot to do and must move rapidly if it is to survive and prosper. He believes competition is good for Telecom and that it will ensure that the company "strives to do things more efficiently".

On the ESAT/CIE agreement, under which ESAT will build a fiber optic network along CIE rail lines, he said "they are doing what other utilities around Europe have been doing for some time. We live in an increasingly competitive environment and we do not fool ourselves about the strength of the competition that is there already or what is coming down the track".

Mr Bolger insists that Telecom, which will be 95 per cent digitised by January 1998, will be significantly more advanced in terms of fiber optic cable in the ground when the ESAT/CIE network is fully laid. The company invested £268 million in its network last year and expects to invest £300 million per annum for the next few years.

There are a number of connected elements, which Mr Bolger sees as essential to helping Telecom cope with increasing competition. Among these are its strategic alliance with KPN/Telia, its "transformation" plan with the unions and the need to boost revenue through improving and developing services.

KPN/Telia paid £183 million for a 20 per cent stake in Telecom and has an option to raise this to 35 per cent. The alliance brings much more than money to Telecom, according to Mr Bolger.

"Both companies have wide experience of operating in competitive markets. KPN operates in a market almost as viciously competitive as Britain and it has come from State ownership to being a corporate entity. Telia operates in one of the most competitive mobile markets where penetration is among the highest at 30 per cent compared with 9 per cent here.

We have the benefit of their experience and expertise."

While there are three KPN/ Telia representatives on the 12 member Telecom board, the impact of the new partners on the day to day operation of the company became more apparent in a recent restructuring. Telecom Eireann's operations were reorganised into five business units centred around customers and markets. Managers from KPN and Telia became managing directors of two of the five units.

Thomas Svalstedt from Telia was appointed managing director of Telecom's corporate business unit which looks after the company's top 7,000 corporate customers, while Gerard Van Velzen from KPN took over responsibility for Telecom's enterprises its value added services such as internet, operator services and directories. In addition Anders Kronqvist is on the 13 member management board as the business process development director. The reorganisation is aimed at "sharpening our business focus" and taking advantage of what our partners have to offer, Mr Bolger said. There are currently some 85 ongoing projects at Telecom "where we expect that our partners can bring value to us". In all some 40 to 50 people from KPN and Telia are now working directly with Telecom.

Other issues facing Telecom include the appointment of a telecoms regulator from July 1st and the EU investigation of the ownership of cable companies by telecoms operators. On the former, Mr Bolger welcomes the appointment of a regulator as "vital for the industry" and helpful "to remove any perception of bias or unfair treatment by Telecom.

On Cablelink the company has called in advisers to assist in its strategic review of the operation. "We want to see how we can exploit its potential and develop it in an open access way as a multi platform operator. We have plans for it. Either we implement them or we get out. I guess we are in for the long haul".

Dublin has one of the highest levels of cable penetration in Europe but it has one of the lowest levels of penetration for premium services, he says. To develop Cablelink would cost Telecom £150 million plus over a number of years he says.