The belated introduction of a new mobile phone service in the Republic, via a third operating licence, is good news for consumers and for the market newcomer, US-Irish consortium, Meteor.
The Supreme Court judgment which has removed the final legal hurdle in the process is also a boon for the office of the director of telecommunications regulation and for the incumbent, Ms Etain Doyle. Her position would have been seriously jeopardised if the judgment had gone against her.
The High Court ruling last year, quashing the regulator's award of the third mobile licence to Meteor, had inflicted serious damage on the office and undermined confidence in the entire regulatory process.
Morale in the regulator's office was further dented in recent weeks with the disclosure that several of the appointed adjudicators for a broadband licence, which was awarded to Eircom, were shareholders in the former State telecom company.
But the Supreme Court's unequivocal judgment yesterday in favour of the regulator goes some way to re-establishing the credibility of the office.
However, Ms Doyle's victory is something of a pyrrhic one. A few hours before yesterday's judgement, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, announced her intention to restructure the regulator's office.
A Bill to be brought forward in the autumn will propose establishing a three person commission to take over the functions of a sole regulator and effectively share the responsibility.
It remains unclear if Ms Doyle will be asked or would join such a commission.
For the consumer, fresh competition in the mobile sector is good news and should drive down the cost of mobile phone calls and widen the choice of services available to customers. The effective "duopoly" which exists between Esat Digifone and Eircell has done little to shake up the market.
A number of recent surveys have highlighted that the cost of mobile phone calls in the Republic remains among the highest in Europe.
The entry of the telecoms company Cellular 3 last month as a reseller of mobile airtime bought from Eircell illustrated the potential for price cuts in the sector.
But according to industry experts, the entry of a third mobile operator usually leads to reductions in call costs of anything between 5-40 per cent. This figure depends on the market climate and the strategy and capital reserves of a new entrant.
Eircell and Esat Digifone are certain to cut the cost of calls over the next nine months in a bid to make it extremely difficult for Meteor to get a foothold in the Irish market.
The delay of almost two years has cost Meteor about £100 million (€127 million) in lost revenues and investment. But of potentially greater concern is the huge increase in mobile penetration in the Irish marketplace in that period.
Over the past two years mobile penetration has surged to around 50 per cent of the Irish public. Meteor's greatest challenge will be to persuade existing customers to opt out of their present agreements with operators and change to a new and untried network. Getting into the market before the huge upturn in consumer demand over the Christmas period will be the primary goal of the company.
Plans to put "spades into the ground" within two weeks will be crucial to meeting this deadline but there is a potential problem in gaining planning permission for the base stations and transmitters required.
To provide the 80 per cent coverage required to fulfil the conditions of its licence, Meteor will need to establish approximately 250 cells or separate installations across the Republic. The planning process is either completed or ongoing on some 100 sites, and although some cells can be co-located, planning delays are a possibility.
The required increase in staffing levels from some 36 to around 275 when the network is established could also prove problematic due to the shortage of labour.
However, with plans to invest some £200 million in 1216 months, Meteor will be hoping that the third mobile licence has the potential to unlock considerable revenue.
