Deregulation of the market means that competitors such as international company WorldCom Inc and domestic outfit Esat Telecom -- hitherto confined to a market worth around 200 million Irish pounds ($278 million) -- will have access to Ireland's 1.5 billion punts telecoms sector.

Companies previously restricted to offering long-distance and other telecoms services to the business community will now be able to compete with dominant player Telecom Eireann in all areas, including residential usage from December 1.

``This is a very good thing for the industry and for the perception of Ireland abroad as a place to invest,'' telecoms analyst Jemma Houlihan at ABN AMRO Stockbrokers in Dublin said.

``There will be a lot more interest from the big players in Irish telecoms firms, as the outlook for the market is good.''

NCBStockbrokers estimates that Ireland's total telecoms business could be worth around three billion punts in 10 years.

Announcing that liberalisation would occur 13 months before a special waiver of European Commission open market rules was due to expire, enterprise minister Mary O'Rourke said the move would help to put Ireland at the centre of global telecoms development.

``It is in the country's interest that full competition is introduced as soon as practicable,'' she said. ``I believe this will send the correct signal to the market that Ireland is a place to invest in telecoms.'' To spearhead its strategy the government has set up a Telecommunications Advisory Committee comprising industry experts from the US and Ireland.

It also plans to hold a public offering of part of its stake in state company Telecom Eireann, leaving it with a minority shareholding in the firm.

Telecom Eireann last week reported a 11 per cent rise in annual turnover to 1.3 billion punts, and pretax profit of 223 million, upfrom 204 million the previous year. Esat Telecom, the main competitor to Telecom Eireann, already holds 25 per cent of the country's business market and has long campaigned for deregulation.

It says it has teams in place to prepare for the opening of the residential sector on December 1, and has set aside around 60 million Irish pounds to spend on fibre optic cables around the country and between Ireland and the UK.

A joint venture between British Telecommunications Plc and Ireland's Electricity Supply Board (ESB) -- Ocean -- plans to invest 80 million punts in the first five years of operations, rising to 130 million over 10 years.Ocean will initially target the business market, aiming for a 10 per cent share, but also has its sights set on the residential sector.

Ocean, which is backed by American International Group Inc is seen as a potentially strong competitor.

``The group has BT's expertise, AIG's financial back-up, and ESB's existing infrastructure -- that's a strong combination,'' ABN AMRO'sHoulihan said.Other companies jockeying to compete with Telecom Eireann include local operators Stentor, Torc Telecoms, and Swisscall, which was recently bought out by Japan's Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co Ltd (KDD), a company with considerable financial muscle, analysts say.

Abolition of the telephony derogation is also expected to lead to lower call tariffs, analysts said.

Telecom Eireann, criticised in the past for its high prices, recently announced a raft of telephone charge cuts worth 130 million punts, and is expected to make further cuts towards the end of the year.

``Prices have already come down substantially but there's further to go and it's a fair bet that they'll come down even quicker now,'' telecoms analyst Scott Rankin at Davy Stockbrokers said.

``Competition will add to the current political pressure to bring tariffs down.''