One of the State's better-known brand names was laid to rest yesterday as the telecoms firm Esat BT finally announced it was changing its name to BT Ireland.

The brand, which became synonymous with its controversial founder, telecoms entrepreneur Denis O'Brien, is being phased out to highlight that BT Ireland is part of the BT Group.

Dismissing the suggestion that Irish consumers would not identify with a British company, BT Group chief executive Ben Verwaayen said the firm was now embedded in the Irish economy.

"People have strong views on globalisation," Mr Verwaayen said. "But they still go into a shop and buy a TV made in a foreign country."

BT Ireland hopes that adopting the new brand name will send a clear message to customers that it is capitalising on its parent's global network and strength.

Dropping the Esat brand will also help BT Ireland to avoid any more negative publicity created by the resumption of the Moriarty tribunal, which is investigating the award of the second mobile phone licence.

Although BT Ireland no longer has a mobile arm, the successful rebranding of Esat Digifone to O2 left Esat BT as the sole bearer of the Esat corporate identity.

Mr Verwaayen, a former executive at the Dutch firm KPN, which acquired a stake in Eircom in the 1990s, said that he did not agree with a recent suggestion by the Irish regulator, ComReg, that Eircom be split into separate retail and wholesale entities to promote competition.

However, he did call for a regulatory update in the Irish market and referenced BT's recent decision to create two separate divisions for its wholesale and retail arms as a viable model.