A consortium including U2 manager Mr Paul McGuinness and Waterford Wedgwood chief executive Redmond O'Donoghue has won the State's first regional radio licence.

Both are to be on the board of Beat 101, which was yesterday awarded the south-east licence by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. It plans to be up and running by July next year.

The defeated applicant, Power FM, which included the rock star turned businessman Bob Geldof in its ranks, had hoped to be on air before the end of the year.

The Beat consortium is led by the Waterford station, WLR FM, whose managing director, Mr Des Whelan, said he was both relieved and "absolutely delighted" at the news.

Both applicants proposed music-driven stations targeted at 15- to 34-year-olds and were backed by high-profile investors.

The two sides told a BCI oral hearing in Kilkenny this month that they had "deep pockets" to sustain the enterprise in the event of financial projections not being met.

Beat 101 will broadcast from a new complex on the Waterford ring road, which it will share with WLR. Planning permission for the development was received in recent days.

The station is to have a full-time staff of 13, and while sales and administration services will be shared with WLR, Mr Whelan says no voice will be heard on both stations.

They will also operate independently and report to separate boards. Additional new jobs are to be created in the sales and administration areas.

The new station expects to generate revenue of €2.4 million in its third year of operation.

Power FM, whose biggest shareholder, SBS Broadcasting, operates 18 radio stations and a number of television stations in Europe, had promised to create 27 full-time jobs.