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Colt said on Friday that the newest phase in its 120km network in Dublin city and county includes in the business parks City West and Park West, as well as Tallaght and Terenure, and brings Colt's investment in its Irish operation to around EUR30 million. According to Colt, businesses in these areas can now avail of a direct connection to the European network of its parent company, which extends to over 15,000 km throughout the EU.
Following the completion of its network in Dublin West, the telecoms company is now continuing its roll out in Dublin city centre. This, it said, was in response to demand from companies, particularly in business areas such as East Point and the IFSC where Colt already has presences, for high-bandwidth services.
"Having essentially completed our core network construction, we will be giving even greater emphasis to connecting new customers directly to the Colt network," remarked Colt Ireland Managing Director Gary Keogh. The company expects the city centre roll out to be completed by year-end or early 2003. After that, it will examine the possibility of expanding to other areas in Dublin.
Although Colt management said that it was confident about "meeting or beating" its 300 percent growth target for this year, 2002 has not been all plain sailing for the company. Most notably, it has been forced to "moth-ball" its data centre, which officially opened only at the start of the year.
Keogh revealed that customers at its Internet Solutions Centre on the Long Mile Road in Dublin have since been moved to the company's node in East Wall Road.
"We are still maintaining the centre and it is our intention to re-open it, but only if it is economically viable. Like many others in the data centre sector, we found that in the current environment it was a very difficult market to succeed in," commented Keogh. He added though that Colt has managed to increase the number of companies using its services in that area.
The company also said that any expansion of its network beyond Dublin would be difficult under existing market conditions. Currently, Colt's services are only available in Dublin and although it has previously entered into discussions with government bodies and other telecoms operators about offering them in other cities in the country, Keogh said that it would be too costly for the company as this time.
"Due to the rates charged by the main national telecom operators, it would cost Colt three times as much to have a Dublin-Cork service, as it would to have a connection to cities such as Vienna or Munich. Such high cost levels are a major obstacle to us offering services outside Dublin," Keogh explained.
Colt Telecom has been in the Irish market since early 2001 and offers a range of telecom services such as frame relay, leased lines, ATM and international voice. Keogh said the business should be EBITDA positive by the fourth quarter or first quarter of next year. It employs around 40 people in Ireland.
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