Band-X to close office in Dublin

The Irish technology sector has received a further setback with the news that Band-X, the bandwidth exchange company, is to close its Dublin office after just six months in business.

The closure follows a review of operations at London-based Band-X, according to its recently appointed chief executive, Mr Stephen Beynon.

The company claimed at the Dublin launch last July that Ireland was well suited to Band-X's services, with its rapidly deregulating market, and the presence of multinational companies and indigenous start-ups. However, Mr Beynon said the volume of business generated by Dublin was too small to justify its existence. The business could be handled from its centres in London, Paris or Amsterdam.

"We're looking for markets that offer high growth or are very well developed and the Dublin market didn't fit into those categories," he said.

"We decided it didn't make sense to maintain a local office on the ground. It's a question of building scale. We are looking to the US, Asia and Europe, where we can deploy our resources to get greater scale."

By setting up the Dublin office, Mr Beynon said the company had been "a bit early" in deploying its resources.

"If in future it proves to be a market which has potential, we may go back. We're not closing the door forever," he said.

Mr Beynon said the five people employed by Band-X in Dublin would be offered employment in its other offices.

Band-X launched its independent virtual market for international wholesale telecom capacity in 1997. It employs 160 people in offices in the UK, the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, India, South Africa and Hong Kong.