Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam announced the jobs boost, backed by the province's Industrial Development Board (IDB), at the company's headquarters in East Belfast.

Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam: Jobs vote of confidence for Northern Ireland

"ntl is a well-established player in the provision of integrated communications solutions, not only in Northern Ireland, but internationally, enjoying the highest customer penetration levels in the UK, where it has over two million customers," Ms Mowlam said.

"The company's operations demonstrate that technology-related jobs are not just for graduates. Most of the new positions announced today are in customer support and will be ideally suited to people with good customer care and telephone skills."

The seeds of the investment were sown when she visited ntl chairman George Blumenthal in New York during the IDB's United States Roadshow last October.

Ms Mowlam said. "The link with the roadshow is very significant and shows the real value of political partnership, as the contribution of the First and Deputy First Ministers, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon, were critical in the promotion of Northern Ireland as an investment location."

State aid

The IDB has offered £3.8m of selective financial assistance towards the project.

The company is making a capital investment of £4.5m and an additional overall investment of £15.6m in the project.

ntl is also proposing to spend £181m on its infrastructure in Northern Ireland over the next four years.

ntl managing director Owen Lamont said: "ntl is at the leading edge of the communications industry, and Northern Ireland provides an excellent base from which to serve and support increasingly sophisticated business and consumer markets in Europe.

"We are investing £1bn in Northern Ireland - that speaks for itself about our confidence in the business opportunity it offers."