ESAT Digifone is threatening to pull out of its proposed deal with the Garda unless an agreement allowing its mobile telephone network to use Garda station masts is concluded by Friday.
Yesterday, a Department of Justice official intervened to stop work on a mast at Rathfarnham Garda station in Dublin. The Garda and Esat were told this was because no final decision on the deal has been reached.
The company and the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, are both anxious to sign a final agreement.
"Bureaucracy has it snarled up," said Mr Barry Maloney, Esat Digifone chief executive. He said he had been unable to find out the reasons for the delay.
Garda headquarters said Mr Byrne wanted negotiations concluded "as quickly as possible" and believed the deal would lead to "a more professional police service to the community".
Under the proposal, the Garda would let Esat use or replace masts on a large number of the 700 Garda stations, in return for telecommunications hardware and services said to be worth up to £3 million annually to the force. Esat could quickly extend its area coverage before starting its mobile service early next year.
Those close to the deal have been worried that it is facing political obstacles and that Eircell, Telecom Eireann's mobile telephone network, may be showing renewed interest in using Garda masts since Esat's proposal was first publicised last month.
However, an Eircell spokeswoman said last night the company might be interested in a handful of sites but had no interest in a larger deal. It wanted only to add capacity to its existing network. Neither did it expect to be excluded from negotiating with the Garda to use the force's masts. "We never saw ourselves getting out of the frame," she said.
"Official sources suggested the Minister for Justice Mrs Owen, is seeking more advice on whether there could be planning permission difficulties with the deal before allowing a final agreement to be signed.
"No final decisions have been taken and nothing has been signed," a Department spokeswoman said.