The firm appointed by the Government to assess its property portfolio for mobile phone mast sites has an existing working relationship with the Irish mobile phone operator, Hutchison 3G Ireland.
Vilicom, a Dublin-based consultancy that was founded by former Esat Digifone staff, is a subcontractor for Esat BT, which is building Hutchison's network.
The firm's relationship with one of the big mobile operators has caused concern for at least one rival mobile phone company.
A source at one rival firm said yesterday any suggestion that preferential decisions could be made would naturally be a cause for concern.
"The appointment of an impartial consultant was one that the mobile industry would have welcomed," the source added.
Under the Government contract, which was awarded by the Office of Public Works, Vilicom will assess the State's portfolio of 1,800 buildings for their suitability as sites for mobile masts.
The company will also advise the State in its negotiations with mobile phone companies that want to gain access to the sites.
The Government has said it will favour site sharing between all the mobile operators. However, this may not be possible on all property.
This could lead to stiff competition between mobile operators to secure the best sites for their new third-generation networks, which would enable users to watch video on their mobiles.
Vodafone has consistently opposed the Office of Public Works and the Garda's current deal with O2 for mast sites, which was made on an exclusive basis.
An Office of Public Works spokeswoman said Vilicom had declared its relationship with Esat BT prior to the competition and the office took the view that there was no conflict of interest.
"The company \ has contracted three engineers to Crown Castle who have been selected by Esat BT, who in turn where selected by Hutchison to build the network," she said.
"They [the consultants\] are working on the design of the radio system and not on property or site acquisition," she added.
Mr Colin Cunningham, a co-founder of Vilicom, said yesterday that the company had made clear its involvement in the contract to help build Hutchison's Irish mobile phone network.
"There is no conflict of interest in this and we do work with all the mobile phone operators," he said.
Vilicom will be paid €55,000 to undertake the initial review of the State's property portfolio.
The five-year contract also offers Vilicom a revenue share agreement on the rental income produced from each State site that is leased to a mobile phone firm.
