Mobile interceptors can be used in hospitals, prisons and a host of other public buildings following a ruling yesterday.
However, managers of such facilities will have to get the co-operation of mobile phone operators who must agree to their signals being blocked.
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has confirmed it will allow the installation of mobile interceptors in Ireland for public use.Interceptors are a new type of technology that can be used to block a mobile phone signal in a particular area while allowing emergency calls to be made.
ComReg said public education on mobile phone etiquette in public areas was preferable to the use of interceptors. However, there were situations where blocking signals could be beneficial. Under ComReg's new rule mobile operators will only have to install interceptors on a voluntary and commercial basis. The cost of installing an interceptor, estimated at several thousand euro, could also be prohibitive, according to industry sources.
The latest "interceptor technology" works by detecting mobile phones in a particular area by honing in on their signal. When it detects a handset it sends a message to the nearest mobile base station to enable it to prevent the subscriber from making or receiving any calls.
Interceptors are different from mobile phone jamming systems because they do not indiscriminately block signals in an area. Mobile phone jammers are illegal in the Republic because they can interfere with and block all signals, including emergency service calls made by the public.
Last year the Savoy cinema in Dublin was forced to dismantle a jamming device, following an intervention by the regulator.
Vodafone, the State's biggest mobile operator with 1.8 million subscribers, said it would look at each application on a case by case basis.
"There are a number of factors which we will be taking into account including the risk of leakage of the restrictions outside of the intended area, the cost of installation and the costs associated with allowing emergency calls through," said a Vodafone spokeswoman.