ESAT Digifone caused quite a stir in 1995 when it beat some of the best telecommunications companies in the world in the bid for Ireland's second mobile phone licence.
The principal partners in the consortium were Esat Telecom, a small independent Irish telecommunications company, and Telenor, the state telecom company in Norway.
The two partners held 40 per cent each, with International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) Nominees Ltd holding the remaining 20 per cent, on behalf of Mr Dermot Desmond.
The Esat consortium was one of six bidders for the potentially lucrative franchise to operate a new GSM mobile phone network in the State for the next 15 years.
A Danish consultancy company, Andersen Management International, graded the six bids according to a number of criteria.
The licence was granted by the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry, with some of the disappointed bidders objecting afterwards, but not going as far as taking a legal challenge.
Esat Digifone paid £15 million for the licence, the maximum set by the Government. Commentators described the price set by the Government as "excessively low", but Mr Lowry defended it, in that quality of service was the main issue in making the decision.
Esat Digifone has said it has a target customer base of between 300,000 and 400,000 customers within five years.
Esat Telecom was formed in 1991 by Mr Denis O'Brien, the entrepreneur behind 98FM and its allied stations in Sweden and the Czech Republic.
The company is also involved in competing with Telecom Eireann for fixed line traffic, with some 22000 corporate customers buying international and long distance calls.
Telenor, the Norwegian partner, was the element of the partnership with experience of developing a mature mobile phone market. The Norwegian population has been quick to move from the, fixed line telephone to mobile phone use and Telenor has predicted fixed lines will become obsolete in its home market over the next 30 years.
Esat Telecom raised £27 million from a number of international investors earlier this year.
New shares were placed with five US based companies in a deal which the company said valued it at £56 million. The shareholdings after the deal were: Mr Denis O'Brien, 29.44 per cent; Advent International, 27.21 per cent; John Hancock Insurance, Met Life Insurance, CS First Boston Corp, and Soros Capital, 39.49 per cent, and management and directors, 3.86 per cent.
Last month Esat Digifone announced it would not be meeting its December 1st deadline for the launch of phase one of its coverage. That launch is now likely to happen "in early 1997".
The company has expressed frustration about delays in getting its network of antennae established around the State.
"Co location deals" have been done with RTE, Coillte, the ESB and Eircell, as well as with a number of local radio stations. Masts owned by these companies can be used for the erection of Esat Digifone antennae. A similar deal is being negotiated with CIE.
In addition it is in negotiation with the Garda on the use of mast sites at Garda stations to extend its network.
Digifone has also agreed that some of the masts it has erected will be used by Eircell.
Charges of between £3,000 to £5,000 per annum are being paid for use of masts owned by other companies, according to a source.
The company needs around 150 masts to launch phase one, and another 50 to launch phase two of its network. It currently has around 100 masts agreed, erected, or for which planning permission has been granted.
Esat Digifone headquarters are in the former Bord na Mona building on Baggot Street, Dublin.
The company has approximately 200 employees. Its joint chief executives are Mr Barry Maloney and Mr Kanut Digerud.