Sky Ireland signed up 19,000 new digital satellite subscribers in the three months to the end of March. This brought the company's total number of satellite customers to 484,000, or one in three Irish households.

Ireland accounted for 37 per cent of the 51,000 increase in Sky's overall customer numbers for both here and Britain. It had 8.5 million subscribers in Britain and Ireland at the end of March.

Sky said yesterday that it added 77,000 new customers here in the 12 months to the end of its third quarter.

Based on subscribers paying an average €500 a year for Sky's digital service, the 19,000 new customers will yield the firm about €9.5 million a year in revenue.

Sky is estimated to earn €260 million a year in the Irish market, according to analysts. About 90 per cent of this is driven by subscriptions, with the balance in local advertising revenue generated by Sky One, Sky News and its sports channels.

The broadcaster is adding about 1,500 Irish subscribers a week and is on target to break the 500,000 barrier this summer.

Sky is believed to have sold close to 100,000 Sky+ set-top boxes in Ireland and about 12,000 high-definition (HD) boxes.

Sky said it was on track to open a customer call centre in Bishopstown, Cork in June, a move that will create 100 jobs.

It is understood, however, that it has no plans to enter the broadband market here in the near term. UPC Ireland, which comprises NTL and Chorus, recently began rolling out voice and broadband services.

Sky said yesterday that its group revenues increased by 10 per cent to £3.4 billion (€4.9 billion), while operating profit was £613 million.