The Commission for Communications Regulation has succeeded in a bid to have the High Court action taken against it this week by Smart Telecom adjourned for two weeks in order to prepare its case.
The courtroom drama kicked off this week when it emerged that ComReg withdrew its offer of the fourth 3G licence to Smart because it believed the telco failed to meet certain conditions of its original offer. Smart immediately brought a case before the High Court.
Smart Telecom was awarded the fourth and final Irish 3G mobile licence in November 2005 and made its initial payment of €56.75m for the licence on 15 December. It has also negotiated a €200m network rollout contract with major equipment manufacturers and arranged a €100m performance bond with the banks to underpin the project.
After bringing its case to the High Court, Smart was awarded an injunction against ComReg restraining it from awarding the nation’s fourth 3G licence to any other operator. A court hearing was scheduled to take place this morning.
According to a statement from Smart: “This morning, Comreg requested a two-week adjournment of Smart’s High Court action to allow it time to respond and Smart consented to same. Smart’s interim injunction against Comreg is to continue over this period.”
By John Kennedy
