Coillte, the Irish Forestry Board, has conducted £70 million worth of transactions over its ISDN-based electronic bidding system since it was installed last year. The system, installed by Lake Communications, recently won the Memorex Telex/Sunday Business Post Excellence in Information Technology award.

Over two million cubic metres of timber have been traded at bi-weekly auctions over the past year. Bidding takes place through a virtual ISDN network to eight offices around the country, with bidders dialing in and bidding in real time over basic rate ISDN connections.