Perhaps unsurprisingly, the considered view of the new players in the telecommunications industry is that the monopolists, or incumbent operators are being dragged kicking and screaming into a liberalised market. They are seen as doing everything they can to slow the process down.

But while the Republic's telephony market is open for full competition in 10 days' time, and there will be some immediate changes, consumers will probably have to wait several years before reaping a full harvest from deregulation.

In the short term, prices will drop. The mere advent of competition has already seen Telecom Eireann's once-exorbitant prices tumble in recent months, and customers of the State-owned company have also benefited from a range of new products, from answering services to low-rate Internet access.

Earlier this week, the company substantially reduced its interconnect rate - the tariff it charges other telecoms for routing calls over its network - and this should drive down prices on all calls.

From the start, consumers are likely to be presented with a wide choice of telephone "packages", designed to attract different sections of the marketplace. For example, new companies are certain to devise variations on Telecom Eireann's "Friends and Family" system, where customers get 10 per cent off calls to five pre-chosen numbers.

The first new telecommunications device consumers can expect to see in their homes is an autodialler. Approximately the size of a cigarette box, it is placed between the wall socket and any ordinary telephone, and automatically dials a five-digit number before each call. This means that instead of the call going through Telecom Eireann in the usual way, the customer uses another company.

Within 14 months - by the start of 2000 - this system will be obsolete. By that date, Telecom must introduce carrier pre-selection, allowing customers to tell Telecom to switch their calls automatically.

Esat, and perhaps Ocean, are also likely to issue new hand sets to customers, with additional features such as caller identification, and timers, so that users can see how long each call lasts. For businesses, there will be a myriad of extra, specialised or targeted telephone services. For example, hotels may be able to bulk-buy a certain number of calls each month from one carrier while transport companies might buy an integrated mobile and land-line package from a telecom brokerage firm.

Small firms might find that they can now do businesses over the phone in non-English speaking countries, routing their calls through a telephone simultaneous translation service.

Over the medium term, industry analysts say most countries liberalising their telephone market tend to trace a similar pattern.

First, there is a surge of activity, with dozens of smaller, new companies emerging to target niche markets, both residential and business. This creates "churn", where significant numbers of customers change networks frequently to take advantage of introductory offers and new services.

After a period of flux, the dominant player in the market - in the Republic's case Telecom - rebalances itself, and consolidates its position.

At this point some of the newcomer companies discover that their business has not gone according to their blueprints, and find themselves in financial difficulties. These will typically blame either the regulatory environment or the dominant player for their woes, and generate a debate in the press about the pace of liberalisation.

As time wears on, there will be a blurring of the industry's lines; television cable companies and electricity and gas suppliers will upgrade their infrastructure to provide communications services to their customers, while new wireless companies will emerge, offering to service remote areas.

Also, regulatory arguments in the industry will never be far from the headlines. Observers can expect added spice to such debates in the Republic, where there could be "turf wars" between the telecommunications regulator and the Competition Authority, some of whose areas of competence appear to overlap.

Over a longer term, customers can expect major changes to everyday communication.

Once companies and governments have figured out a fair way to pay for broadband technology, the "last mile" of fibre optic cable to people's homes will be laid. This will allow everything from online video on demand, to round-the-world teleconferencing among disparate family members.

As the economies of the European Union converge, so alliances and mergers will form global telecommunications giants, marketing the same products from Galway to Athens.

There will also be a convergence of land-line and mobile technology and service, allowing consumers to use their mobiles in their homes, as they might now use a portable phone. Meanwhile, low-orbiting satellites will change the mobile world, competing with existing GSM networks for roaming customers.

As rapid-access Internet service spreads, new Internet-only telephone companies will emerge. These could undermine, for example, Telecom's planned flat-rate Internet access service, and dodge any contributions to a universal service fund for commercially non-viable areas.

One issue that could yet spoil the telecommunications party - or at least make an embarrassing, midnight entrance - is the millennium bomb. The industry is heavily reliant on software, and while all carriers say they are working to ensure their systems will not crash on January 1st, 2000, none can guarantee that the companies they rely on for services will enter the millennium unscathed.