The Supreme court decision to uphold the process on which the third mobile phone licence was granted, means that consumers should have a new service before Christmas. Meteor, a consortium of US and Irish investors, now plans to launch a service in competition with Eircell and Esat Digifone, bringing welcome extra competition to the market. The pity is that the granting of the licence has been delayed by court action for eighteen months, a period during which Meteor would have hoped to have won a share of a fast-growing market.
The Supreme court verdict will have come as a considerable relief to the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR), headed by Ms Etain Doyle. The ODTR had decided to award the licence to Meteor using a process which the High Court had judged to be biased and unreasonable. The ODTR appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court which overturned it.
In a strongly-worded judgment, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, said there was "not a scintilla of evidence" that anyone involved in making the decision had any pecuniary or other interest in the outcome, meaning there was no support for a verdict of objective bias. Allegations by the other bidder, the UK company, Orange, that aspects of the way it was treated showed crude and xenophobic prejudice was " wholly unjustified" and " strained credulity to breaking point." Orange's claim that the process had been manipulated so that Meteor could win was wholly unwarranted and unsupported by the evidence, he concluded. The Chief Justice also pointed out that the case had taken up a wholly inordinate amount of court time, partly due to the lack of appropriate case management procedures in the High Court.
It was as definitive a judgment as the ODTR could have wanted, upholding the process used to reach what was probably the most important decision which the office has made. For consumers, a new competitor in the market should mean lower prices and an early introduction of new mobile phone services. Meteor, meanwhile, will hope that despite the delay, it will still be able to manage a successful service.
By coincidence, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, announced yesterday that she would bring forward legislation in the Autumn to ensure that the work of the regulator will be conducted by a three-person commission, rather than vested in a single individual. This appears a reasonable strategy, given the importance of the role, as does the Minister's desire to make the entire process of regulation across the economy more open and accountable.
Regulation is an increasingly important function, as Government devolves authority to independent officers to oversee key sectors of the economy - including telecommunications, energy and the running of the state airports. All these regulators must operate within definite policy guidelines and with clear lines of authority and accountability. While they are independent, regulators are fulfilling a function on behalf of the people and overseeing the introduction of competition in areas where it has a significant impact. If they are made properly accountable, it can only increase the authority of their offices.