Damien Mulley, chairman of broadband lobby group Ireland Offline, said he is cautiously optimistic about B&B's strategy for the company, following a meeting with incoming Eircom chairman Pierre Danon. Danon was seen as an early champion of BT's broadband strategy in the UK, which helped push take-up to almost 40% of households.

"We met Pierre Danon three to four weeks ago and his attitude is that he'd like to do the same thing here, " Mulley said.

Mark Fielding, chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association (Isme), said he was hopeful Eircom would boost availability of high-speed internet services. Fielding said the only way forward for its new owners is to grow the market.

"If you put infrastructure in place it will be used and they will end up with a bigger pie rather than a large piece of a smaller pie, " he said.

Outgoing Eircom chairman Tony O'Reilly rebutted the "cacophony of criticism" directed at the company as he presided over its last annual general meeting last week.

In remarks that were wellreceived by shareholders, he pointed to the 62% return that investors in the 2004 IPO would realise under the B&B offer.

O'Reilly also defended the company's record of investment in its network, pointing out that Eircom has spent over 15% of its revenue, well over the EU average for fixedline operators, on capital expenditure in each of the last five years.

"I am acutely conscious of the negative comments directed at Eircom. But I am also aware, as I think you are, that the truth is now emerging that Eircom has done a good job to deliver a new infrastructure across the state, " he said.

The company has 400,000 customers using its dial-up internet service, many of whom could switch to broadband but choose not to, according to O'Reilly.

"There is a perception, which is unchallenged, that broadband is a universally good thing . . . like running water . . . that everyone must have it. Customers don't like to be talked to like that, " he said.