A competition to award a single Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) Public Access Mobile Radio licence has been cancelled by telecoms regulator Ms Etain Doyle due to a lack of interest. The licence would enable operators to offer voice and data services in public and private networks.
A spokeswoman for the regulator confirmed yesterday that no "compliant applications" for the licence had been received by the deadline for tender submissions on November 24th.
The failure of a single commercial organisation to make an application for the £500,000 (€635,300) licence is the latest sign of the financial squeeze affecting the telecoms industry.
Last week, Dublin-based company Formus Broadband criticised the regulator for charging a fee of £750,000 to enter a contest for two broadband wireless licences.
The regulator's spokeswoman said the process to decide how to allocate the licence would be reviewed. The licence was due to be awarded in January, following the completion of a comparative selection process.
A TETRA licence involves technology that enables a mobile communications service aimed at professional business users. It would suit telecoms operators or emergency-services-type organisations.
It provides users with mobile access to the latest online and electronic commerce applications, while retaining the traditional business radio benefits of instant communication between individuals and groups.
TETRA services are being rolled out in several European countries and the US.
Meanwhile a senior adviser to the UK government warned yesterday that mobile phone operators may have to spend far more than they expect on building third-generation networks.
Computer simulations by Quotient Communications, a consultancy that was technical adviser for Britain's 3G licence auction, show that, even by doubling their existing number of base stations, operators may not have sufficient capacity to support video conferencing, Internet browsing and e-mail.
The finding could raise fresh concerns about the size of investments in 3G, which Quotient expects will cost operators $300 billion (€338 billion) for licences and networks in Europe.
Mobile companies are assuming they will be able to run 3G networks using just their existing number of base stations, said Mr Rodney Stewart, managing director of Quotient.
"What we've found from some of the work we're doing is that that assumption is not necessarily the correct one," he said. "They may have to double the number of cells."
A simulation of a network in Cambridge, eastern England, showed it could just about support voice and Internet browsing if the number of base stations were doubled. But big holes in the network's coverage appeared when traffic from email and video services was added to the mix.
