THE Minister for Communications, Mr Lowry, has condemned what he called "a month campaign of speculation and innuendo" over the awarding of the GSM mobile phone licence.
Mr Denis O'Brien, the chairman of the winning consortium, Esat Digifone, also condemned the criticism directed at the award of the licence to his consortium, which he claimed was being driven by the unsuccessful bidders.
Mr Lowry announced last night he was taking the unprecedented step of calling a briefing today at which members of the civil service team that conducted the evaluation would "clarify the process and the role of participants".
The announcement followed comments made about the tender process and also about the finances of Esat Digifone by Opposition TDs during a meeting of the Dail Public Accounts Committee Esat Digifone, in which the main partners are Esat Telecom and Telenor of Norway, was awarded the licence last November.
Mr O'Brien dismissed suggestions that Esat Digifone did not have adequate funding for the £100 million project. "The fact is that the Esat Digifone project funding is in place," he said.
A spokesman for one of the unsuccessful consortiums, Persona, last night denied it was behind any campaign against Esat Digifone. The US electronic giant, Motorola, was a member of the Persona consortium. The spokesman pointed to a recent letter to the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications from the US Embassy urging it to meet the losing consortiums to provide feedback.
The letter was copied to Motorola and also to Comcast and South Western Bell, which were members of other unsuccessful consortiums. "All had expressed concern," he said.
"It was an open competition, we met the six criteria and we made a better bid," said Mr O'Brien. Some of the losing consortiums may have expected other factors such as spin off jobs that might be created to be taken into account, he said.
The Persona bid was superior to the Esat Digifone in terms of price and coverage, according to published information, the Persona spokesman argued. It was for this reason that Persona was so keen on disclosure, he said.
The Persona bid was superior to the Esat Digifone in terms of price, and coverage, according to published information, the Persona spokesman argued. It was for this reason that Persona was so keen on disclosure, he said.
In his statement last night, Mr Lowry said. "The recent innuendo campaign has gone beyond the level of acceptability or fair comment and involves the questioning of the process of selection and the integrity of the civil service and professional advisers who are directly or indirectly involved.
"These are people who act with professional independence and integrity and, unlike me, are without a platform, short of legal action, to defend and clear their good name and reputation against smears and innuendo."
