Parlon opens rooftops to wireless telcos

07-04-2004

by Martin Lynch

The Irish government plans to lease space on public buildings for mobile masts in an effort to raise EUR100 million over the next 10 years.

The announcement, made by Minister of State Tom Parlon, has been in the pipeline for some time. Last August, Parlon revealed that he was looking into leasing government buildings to the mobile telecommunications sector as part of his overall aim of generating revenue from the government's under-utilised property portfolio. At the time, mobile telecoms consultancy firm Vilicom, beat off bids from 24 other firms to win a five-year contract with the Office of Public Works (OPW) to assess what revenue could be earned.

The deal will encompass all 1,000 government buildings, although schools are exempt. Parlon confirmed that the new plan is ready to go and said the OPW will soon start signing agreements with mobile operators including Vodafone, O2, Meteor and Hutchison. Wireless broadband service providers are also expected to take up the offer.

The government is not expecting much in the way of objections to placing masts on public buildings and Parlon has been quick to emphasise that all operators will be forced to adhere to strict planning and radiation guidelines as well as minimising any visual impact.

At the same time, the government is planning to change the controversial deal that exists between O2 and the Garda. Since 1997, O2 has had exclusive access to Garda masts but this arrangement will now be opened up to rival operators also.

"This is great news and we will be looking into this immediately," said Colm Piercy, managing director of fixed-wireless broadband provider Digiweb. "When you get out into more rural areas it is a lot harder to find suitable masts. But now, because nearly every town and village has either a government building or a Garda station, it will greatly accelerate the roll out of broadband. Hopefully, the pricing will be fair as the current cost of getting onto existing masts is an expensive undertaking."

The opening up of government buildings to masts is also expected to speed up the rollout of third generation (3G) mobile phone services, which will include high-speed Internet access.