Telecoms regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, will not throw third-generation (3G) mobile operators a lifeline by changing the terms of their licences despite moves by the European Commission to persuade regulators to be more lenient with mobile phone firms.
The decision by Ms Doyle follows recent complaints by the main mobile operators, Vodafone and O2, about the structure of the competition to award the high- speed mobile phone licences here.
The mobile firms believe the competition forced them to bid too aggressively and they are now tied into over-ambitious network roll-outs which could damage their ability to provide the new service.
Ms Doyle, who was speaking at a conference on regulation in Dublin yesterday, said the competition was specifically designed to give companies the opportunity to outline their own licence conditions. "We have had no thought about making changes," she added.
She said other regulators had made pragmatic changes where start dates were set too early. But she said she was confident third- generation services would be launched in the Republic by 2004.
The pressure to allow mobile firms greater flexibility from the original terms contained within their licences is growing following recent financial difficulties at German operator MobilCom.
One of the main reasons for the company's massive debt problems is the €18 billion cost of acquiring a third-generation mobile phone licence and building a network to support these new services.
European Commission sources told The Irish Times yesterday that it was looking at ways of reducing the burdens on mobile phone operators to help them provide the new services. The issue of relaxing some licence conditions for operators would be brought to ministerial level at a meeting of the Commission's telecoms council in December. It was important to have a Europe-wide approach, said the source.
The Commission has already signalled it will authorise infrastructure sharing between mobile phone operators with third-generation mobile licences. But the issue of loosening other licence conditions may have legal implications as operators could argue they were being unfairly discriminated against in different markets.
Ms Doyle has already signalled that she will support some measure of infrastructure sharing in the Republic. This will enable firms to share up to 75 per cent of third-generation infrastructure.
Meanwhile, surveys prepared for the conference "Regulatory Challenges & Opportunities for the ICT Sector" show 61 per cent of households in the Republic own a PC, with 49 per cent having access to the internet.
High-speed internet services would be attractive to a relatively high percentage of small- and medium-sized businesses at a cost of between €40 and €60. A cost of €30 to €40 would attract residential users, the survey found.
