The five bidders for the Cablelink franchise lodged their final offers at noon yesterday. One bidder, United Pan Europe Communications (UPC), launched two bids, the higher bid was, it said, dependent on certain changes in the regulations regarding how many channels a cable operator must carry. Meanwhile, it is understood that all bidders sought clearance for their proposals from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Ms Harney.
Once the bids are examined, the Minister will then have to decide whether to give clearance or to refer them for further examination to the Competition Authority. However, only one bid will ultimately prove to be relevant - the bid which is accepted by Cablelink.
Cablelink, which is piped into 360,000 homes, mainly in Dublin, Waterford and Galway, is expected to fetch in excess of £360 million. UPC said its first bid met the existing terms of the offer set out by the vendors, while the second, higher bid, would see UPC providing free digital decoder boxes which incorporate a computer keyboard and mouse in every home. It would, it said, turn the subcriber's television into a powerful computer, but would be done in return for some changes in current regulations.
The bidders include US cable group NTL and Esat Telecom, whose partner is Charter Communications, established by Microsoft co-founder Mr Paul Allen.
Another strong bidder is TeleCommunications Inc (TCI) and Princes Holdings. The latter is a subsidiary of Independent Newspapers which has considerable media interests in Ireland. Yesterday, TCI Ireland's chief operating officer, Mr Bart Bonsall, said his consortium had lodged a strong bid.
Financial advisers at merchant bankers NM Rothschild received the bids by fax by noon yesterday. The bids are now being assessed by NM Rothschild and will be examined by a steering committee, comprising representatives from the Departments of Finance and Public Enterprise, as well as Telecom Eireann and RTE. Telecom and RTE are the current shareholders.
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