History BT Ireland

1 history

1.1 esat telecom
1.2 esat bt
1.3 bt ireland

history
esat telecom

the company founded in 1990 constortium headed business magnate denis o brien , known esat telecom. name esat, said abbreviation of Éireann satellite , connected o brien s bid ireland s communications satellite licence under 1977 itu frequency plans, become more associated telcommunications in ireland, however.

esat telecom applied number of times telecommunications licence department of communications , granted limited 1 in march 1993. company officially launched services on 20 april 1994. first domestic competitor bord telecom Éireann (now eircom) and, after reselling leased lines company, used autodiallers route calls onto network.

these devices proved controversial, telecom threatening legal action , department contending these breach of esat s limited licence. however, esat complaint european commission upheld, , in 1997, new director of telecommunications regulation (now called comreg) regularised esat s position ordering telecom Éireann provide service switch calls onto esat s network.

in 1996, esat telecom, in conjunction telenor ab, bid second gsm mobile telecommunications licence, against 5 other consortia. became known esat digifone. moriarty tribunal found in 2008 awarding of licence influenced payments made o brien michael lowry, minister transport, energy , communications. on 7 november 1997, esat telecom group plc held initial public offering , listed on irish stock exchange, london stock exchange, , nasdaq stock market.

originally company targeted corporate customers, 1 december 1998, when irish telecommunications market deregulated, domestic customers targeted, under esat clear brand name. 1,300 customers signed before had launched. in 1999, esat entered internet service provider market, through purchase of eunet ireland, became esat net. however, acquisition of ireland on-line post year made esat biggest isp in country time. in 1999, esat bid cablelink limited, cable , television company owned jointly telecom Éireann , rtÉ. however, ntl won.

in 1999, esat telecom first wholly owned irish company lay 2 optical submarine cables between ireland , uk. no other company had achieved such milestone , since then, operators outside state have managed install own optical submarine cables.

esat bt

in 1999, relations became tense between esat , telenor on how esat digifone, mobile joint venture, should operated. telenor tried remove denis o brien chairman of esat digifone , remove esat name company. esat part retaliated threatening sue telenor, , making repeated offers buy norwegian company out. eventually, in november 1999, telenor bid entire share capital of esat telecom group plc way of solving situation. bid rejected esat board , became hostile takeover attempt. in order defend this, in january 2000, british telecommunications plc (now bt group plc) made friendly takeover offer company backed esat board. esat became wholly owned subsidiary of bt , delisted stock market.

when bt acquired esat, began integrating business along northern ireland subsidiary, bt (ni). combined unit registered bt communications (ireland) limited.

the company s main business in fixed line telcommunications owns own network in northern ireland , owns network built along iarnród Éireann rail network in republic of ireland , along road complementes rail network. network build phase started in august 1997 , leases capacity fixed line incumbent, eircom.

following company s acquisition bt, esat telecom rebranded esat bt in 2002, , replaced own logo bt piper.

bt ireland

in late 2004, announced april 2005, name of company change esat bt bt ireland . company has performed well, winning high-profile corporate clients. however, eircom still commands on 73% share of fixed-line telecommunications in republic of ireland.

all company names in esat bt group officially re-registered companies registration office bt in march 2005, , on 12 april, company officially rebranded bt ireland .

on 22 july 2009, bt ireland agreed transfer of consumer , small business operations in ireland, other remaining dial-up internet operations, vodafone ireland. large industrial , commercial customers remain bt. under partnership, vodafone provide voice , broadband internet services on bt s network. deal subject competition authority s approval.

bt ireland not own infrastructure in northern ireland, being owned bt group (uk) directly.