The current dispute over masts will not affect Esat Digifone's contract with the Department of Justice and the Garda, the mobile operator's chief executive, Mr Barry Maloney, has said. He has also said it will not affect the company's service to customers. Mr Maloney said the company had already attained coverage of 98 per cent of the population and 93 per cent of the geographical area of the Republic. He added that the masts were required to allow Digifone to serve an increasing customer base.
Mr Maloney said approximately 100 masts were tied up in the planning process. It was no different for Garda masts, where planning had to be applied for and this was done. To date, Digifone has installed its antennae on or replaced approximately 180 Garda masts with newer ones. The majority of this is exempted development.
Digifone has a five-year contract with the Garda to locate its equipment on its masts. The details of the contract have never been made public. However, it has been estimated that the annual value of the contract is £3 million-£4 million per annum.
Digifone rents the masts and pays rent quarterly. It also gives the Garda some of the capacity and has provided the force with a specified number of phones.
It had always been anticipated that getting planning permission would be difficult. Digifone began the process before it was even awarded the licence, but was still fined £1 million for breaching the terms of its licence.
This was because it felt it had insufficient coverage to roll out the service by the specified date, a problem caused partly by opposition to masts.