Eircell will have sold its new, pay-as-you-go mobile phone to 70,000 people by Christmas Day, an average of 10,000 new customers a week, the company said last night. "This is remarkable growth when seen in the context that it took 10 years to penetrate 3 per cent of the market; we are now set to secure 2 per cent within eight weeks," said Eircell's chief executive, Mr Stephen Brewer. Some 60 per cent have been sold in Dublin.

A spokeswoman for Eircell added the company was now concerned that tens of thousands of people who received the phones as Christmas gifts would try to activate them at the same time, overloading the system.