THE TROPHY asset of Broadband Communications Ltd (BBCL) was the T50 telecommunications network which runs around Dublin, closely following the M50 orbital motorway.
The T50 was developed in a number of stages in the early years of this decade. It runs from Clonshaugh in north Dublin to Kilcarbery in the south, passing several major business parks including Citywest, Grange Castle Business Park and Blanchardstown Corporate Park.
It consists of a fibre-optic cable which provides high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity and is heavily used by telecoms firms, data centres and multinationals.
The original backers planned to spend some €65 million on the project, which would also have included a link to Kilmore Quay in Co Wexford, where the Global Crossing submarine cable lands.
BBCL was the subject of a management buyout in 2002. At that time, Finglas-based Connect Electronics acquired a majority stake for €10 million. The relatively low price reflected the global souring in sentiment towards telecoms, which had become hugely overvalued during the dotcom boom.
At the time of the refinancing of Smart Telecom in June 2007 by Smart Yuroe Broadband, when the T50 was merged into Smart, the company placed a "conservative" value of €25 million on the asset.
In an affidavit read to the court yesterday, Smart's former chief executive, Oisín Fanning, valued Brendan Murtagh's 90 per cent stake in BBCL at €95 million.
Last night, telecoms industry sources said it was hard to place a value on the T50, but said it was probably worth in the region of €50 million.
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