You would expect it to be a long path from an arts degree to representing 330 telephone operators of mobile phone networks with 173 million users worldwide. But that path has just been walked by a 30-year-old South African who managed legal training and a spot of world travelling along the way.

Mr Michael Stocks from Johannesburg is currently "Mr GSM", chairman of the Irish-based GSM Association. This body represents operators of the world's most popular mobile phone standard, GSM (global systems for mobile telephony).

First deployed in the early 1990s, GSM networks are now used all around the world. The Republic has two, with the commencement of a third pending a legal appeal, while most European countries have three or more.

So, how does a 30-year-old from the continent with the least GSM penetration get to represent the world's body of operators? "I'm trying to work that one out; I'm still in a state of shock," says Mr Stocks.

"People who get involved in new industries at the ground floor have the opportunity to do well at a young age. I got involved with the mobile operator MTN here in South Africa before its licence award, as part of a small project team," he says. That was in 1993.

Before that, and following his Bachelor of Arts degree, he acquired a law degree and went on to work for a cable television company which later decided to apply for a mobile telephony licence. During this time he fitted in 16 months of travelling, or "going walkabout", as he puts it.

"Having been involved so early," he says, "I kind of grew with the business." He went from radio planning and site roll-out and acquisitions to running a legal and regulatory department, before attending meetings of the-then GSM MoU Association from 1994.

The GSM MoU Association grew from a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by potential operators and European governments in the early 1990s, guaranteeing telephone equipment suppliers a market for GSM technology if they developed it. The governments wanted a common standard so phones could be used abroad, the operators wanted certain services, and the suppliers wanted a return on investment.

"At some point it was recognised that there was a need for some kind of secretariat support for this group," says Mr Stocks, "and the Irish network volunteered the support and identified an individual, a chap called John Moran." Since then, he says, additional staff were recruited from the Irish market, and now the renamed GSM Association employs 18 full-time staff and several contractors, and is headquartered in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Mr Moran is now its co-ordinator.

Despite travelling to the Republic about once a month, Mr Stocks says he has little detailed knowledge of the development of GSM here. He says the Republic has had "some fairly famous experiences" of site acquisition problems, but that this is a hot topic anywhere. "It's always problematic, but it tends to become more problematic for additional operators," he says.

"The first operator is more able to get a lower cost lease . . . if it is renting from the private sector. If a second operator comes along the public or private landowners have caught onto the fact that it is quite difficult to get sites, and that they can only be in certain areas because of radio planning requirements and this sort of thing, so it can be difficult for the subsequent operator just on that pure commercial level."

But in the Republic Eircell was given rights denied to Esat Digifone, such as a temporary exemption from planning permission for mast erection. "Ireland is the only country I'm aware of where one operator has been given certain allowances and not the others," says Mr Stocks, describing this as a "preferential arrangement" which "can certainly disadvantage second or subsequent operators".

However, he stresses, even though planning approvals can result in very substantial delays for operators, they are understandable because "one has to make sure that the public is properly consulted."

But whatever about the need for planning, Mr Stocks is emphatic that the industry believes there is no health risk from base stations. "Clearly there is no risk from base stations," he says, and suggests that masts get blamed for other problems.

"With schools, there is some sensitivity in other countries as well, so Ireland is certainly not alone in that respect . . . Obviously in people's minds there is a concern, and I think that has to be addressed by education and by talking to people."

The scientific consensus is that power levels from mobile phone masts are much too low to pose any threat to people living nearby. However, scientists are less united on whether there may be a risk from the phones themselves, which transmit from much closer to the human body. Not surprisingly, the GSM Association has its mind made up.

"We absolutely believe that there are no adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile phones," says Mr Stocks. "Having said that, we do understand that there are concerns," he adds.

Independent scientists would say they are looking at whether mobile phones are safe, but Mr Stocks says the GSM Association is involved in research to show that phones are safe. "We believe there is no cause for concern, but we do understand that these things need to be categorically demonstrated scientifically," he says.

Eoin Licken may be reached at elicken@irish-times.ie