IARNROD Eireann is trying to sell the rights to lay telephone cable along its tracks, which would not require planning permission, in a deal that could be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, according to company insiders.
Such a move would give a telecommuncations company immediate access to a network which touches almost every major city and town in the Republic. With high density, fibre optic cable, Telecom Eireann could find itself competing head to head with a powerful rival.
A spokesman for CIE said last night the State company did not wish to make any comment on the possibility of such a use for its rail tracks.
Sources within the company, however, suggested that there were at least three telephone companies interested in buying or renting the space for its cables. These include Esat Telecom, TCL Telecom and British Telecom, and that talks have begun between these and CIE.
The Department of Transport, Energy and Communications said, last night that the negotiations, still ongoing, are a matter for CIE, but that as a matter of policy the Government was encouraging the company, and all semistates, to investigate commercial possibilities.
"We want State companies to be far more commercially focused, and to seize opportunities where they arise," said a spokesman for the Department.
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