"Just as we made a quantum leap in the 1970s and moved from the old crank up telephones to the digital exchanges, we really need to jump from what we have now, " said Dempsey. The project would involve an upgrade in the core fixed line network operated by Eircom, an extension of fibre cable either directly to homes or to nearby exchanges.

The government-backed Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) would also form a part of the souped-up nationwide fibre network which would be able to provide internet speeds up to five times faster than any service currently available to residential customers.

The project would involve considerable expense. A study undertaken by telecoms consultants Ovum for the communications regulator Comreg in 2002 estimated that the cost of laying fibre to achieve the kind of network envisaged by Dempsey would be over Euro4bn.

In its submission to the Department of Finance prior to the launch of the latest National Development Plan Eircom stated that such an objective "is not achievable currently without significant government funding".

Dempsey acknowledged that achieving the goal would most likely involve both state and private sector investment and he is keen to bring together Eircom and other operators, including BT and Magnet, to discuss this. "The preferred way forward from my point of view is, let's get together, let's see what we can do for the country, " he said.

Those discussions could be complicated by ongoing disputes between Eircom and its competitors about access to its network. "Eircom have said all the right things since the change of ownership but they need, in some senses, to back what they're saying up now with some actions. The kind of signal that I'd like to see that would start convincing me would be to stop the messing with unbundling and number portability that are clearly designed to keep competition at bay for as long as possible, "he said.

The minister will meet representatives from TIF, a division of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation which represents the telecoms industry in Ireland, next month to try to move discussions on a next generation network forward. "I've already met with TIF and have agreed to talk to them again in early February. There's a fair amount of scoping going on as to what we mean [by next generation network] what we need and how we're going to achieve it, " Dempsey said.

It is understood Comreg will also host an industry forum in late February to discuss the regulatory impacts of a next generation network.