The sale of the 8 per cent stake in Telecom Eireann held by Swedish telecoms group Telia is now expected, following the decision of its Norwegian merger partner, Telenor, to increase its stake in mobile phone operator Esat Digifone. Telenor is increasing its stake from 45 per cent to 49.5 per cent at a cost of $57 million (€52 million).

Esat Telecom confirmed yesterday that it had bought a similar additional 4.5 per cent stake in Digifone from Mr Dermot Desmond's IIU investment group for $57 million. This leaves Esat and Telenor with equal 49.5 per cent stakes in Digifone, with IIU retaining a 1 per cent interest in the mobile phone operator.