The next generation of mobile phone licences - which will pave the way for high speed data and Internet services - will be offered by next February, according to Ms Etain Doyle, director of telecommunications regulation.
Speaking at the publication of her annual report yesterday, Ms Doyle said more than one licence would be on offer but the total number was still undetermined.
She said a project team was currently evaluating how many licences should be offered and what type of competition will be held to obtain one. She said the competition to obtain a licence would begin sometime later this year.
Eircom is currently bidding for a similar type of mobile phone licence in the UK. Successful bidders will have to pay between £500 million and £1 billion for one of the five licences on offer. Ms Doyle declined to comment on how much she thought an Irish licence would cost.
Meanwhile, Ms Doyle said the Office of the Director of Telecommunications (ODTR) has set aside £3.1 million from the 199899 accounts to cover the potential legal liability arising out of the awarding of the third mobile phone licence. The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on the issue.
The British mobile phone company, Orange, appealed the ODTR's decision to award the third mobile phone licence to Meteor to the High Court. It found in favour of Orange and directed the ODTR to reconsider the decision. The ODTR in turn appealed the High Court decision to the Supreme Court.
The legal actions have delayed the entry of a third mobile phone operator into the marketplace.
The ODTR also released its first quarterly survey of the industry yesterday for the period December 1999-February 2000. This shows that the share of the fixed-line telecoms market held by new entrants has increased from 4 to 7 per cent since December 1999.
Ms Doyle said consumer prices were continuing to fall as the market was liberalised. The quarterly report shows almost one in two people have a mobile phone in the Republic representing 1.7 million users. Internet usage has also increased to about 22 per cent, almost double that of 15 months ago.
Ms Doyle condemned the actions of local objectors to the roll-out of telecommunications infrastructure. She said people in small towns may consider mobile phone masts an "eyesore" but if people in these areas are to do business and receive services, they were necessary.
The annual accounts show net income more than doubled in 1999 to more than £11 million in 1999 from just over £5 million in 1998. They also show the ODTR spent more than £4 million, or one-third of its budget on outside consultancy services in 1998-99.
