State wants phone licence appeals to have court’s priority

THE Supreme Court is expected to be asked next May to grant a priority hearing of appeals which will determine if two unsuccessful bidders for the state’s second mobile phone licence can proceed with actions challenging the manner in which the licence was allocated in 1995 to Esat Digifone.

The state had in June 2007 secured orders from the High Court stopping, on grounds of delay, separate actions brought by Comcast International Holdings Incorporated and Persona Digital Telephony Ltd challenging the licence award and claiming multi-million euro in damages.

The consortiums had brought their actions against the state, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Esat Digifone, and its former chairman, Denis O’Brien.