Ireland's burgeoning sex industry will benefit later this year when a range of adult services is made available to mobile phone users for the first time.
Under the changes, explicit material, including live sex lines, will be permitted, provided those using the services can prove they are 18 or over.
Regtel, which regulates premium rate phone services, says the main mobile phone operators have provided "bullet-proof" assurances they can block access to such services by under-18s.
Users of adult lines will have to register first before they can access the services, according to Pat Breen, the regulator. To do so, they will have to provide identification, such as a driving licence or passport, and their details will be stored on a database.
Regtel's code of practice prohibits the dissemination of violent material, the use of obscene or sexually explicit language or images.
While adult chat lines are available, these are "virtual" chat services using recorded messages.
But under a new adult classification framework being finalised, many of the restrictions on adult premium-rate services will be lifted for adult users. Live chat lines will be permitted.
While the exact details of classifications have yet to be worked out, Mr Breen said extreme material featuring rape or bestiality would continue to be prohibited and violent video games would also be excluded.
Mr Breen acknowledged that some people might find sex lines distasteful but said it wasn't Regtel's job to act to censor what adults did.
The industry is considering whether to introduce an age classification system for mobile phone content similar to that applied to films and DVDs. Irish film censor John Kelleher said current legislation limited his remit to films and video/DVDs but he "wouldn't object" if this was extended to other forms of material disseminated by new technologies.
He said he hadn't been contacted by Regtel.
Premium-rate services are available over an expanding range of platforms, including mobile phones, fixed-line phones, faxes and the internet. Currently, most traffic takes the form of voice calls, text messages and still images but with developments in technology, the widespread downloading of video images by phone is only a few years away.
The changes will not apply to fixed-line premium-rate services because, said Mr Breen, the network providers have been unable to find a way of ensuring that only over-18s can access adult services.
