Conduit employs around 900 people at dedicated centres in Cardiff and Swansea in its UK operation - 118UK Ltd.

The existing 192 service - run by BT - is being phased out by August 2003, and Conduit's 118 888 service will now battle with other companies to fill the gap it leaves.

One of its rivals is US-owned firm The Number, which is based at Cardiff Gate.

Last month, 118UK announced it was creating a new office, with 350 jobs, in Swansea, and revealed 300 extra posts could follow in Cardiff.

Half-price service

In December, the telecommunications watchdog Oftel removed BT's monopoly in the market, and consumers now have a choice of which directory enquiries service to use.

But Conduit chief executive Liam Young said he was confident his firm could see off the competition.

"We are going to provide a service at half the price of BT's service," he said.

"We have been doing this for over six years and know how to deliver the service," he added.

However, he said that the creation of extra jobs in Cardiff would depend on the popularity of the service after it launched on St Patrick's Day.

"It takes a while for word-of-mouth to take effect," he said.

Phased out

Conduit was founded in 1996, and now employs 1,400 people in five locations, with offices in Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and the UK.

It delivers directory inquiry services in several European markets.

The 192 telephone directories service, which receives an estimated 600 million calls each year, will be phased out.

Firms offering rival services include BT, British Gas, One Tel and Orange.

Recent research predicted a third of all call centres in the UK would close in the next two-and-a-half years, with the loss of 90,000 jobs.

Managing director of Mitial Research, Mike Allen, said the lower end of the call centre market would move offshore.