The State agency responsible for Luas is offering telecom companies the opportunity to use its 25 kilometres of track to operate a new telecommunications system for Dublin.
The Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) has issued tender documentation aimed at the main telecom companies. The RPA said the problems with bonding material under the Luas tracks, revealed this week, would not affect any new telecom infrastructure.
It said telecom cable could be included in Luas ducts, which run alongside the tracks. Equipment accompanying the cables could be placed in masts, advertising drums and electronic substations.
A spokesman said the Luas system had significant spare cabling capacity to offer telecom companies. He pointed out that the existing network could expand to the Point Depot and Cherrywood in the years ahead.
He said interested companies would be asked to complete further documentation and a shortlist of potential partners would then be drawn up.
The agency is likely to cast its net wide for potential partners. The RPA wants to maximise all opportunities associated with Luas. The agency could form a joint venture with a telecom company, but the most likely outcome is for the RPA to lease out space on the network.
When it comes to distributing their signal, telecom companies increasingly favour overground solutions. The option is seen as more economic, especially when faults occur and operators are faced with the expense of hiring contractors to dig up roads.
State companies are already using their networks for telecom purposes. ESB recently teamed up with telecom company Magnet Networks in a venture aimed at offering a broadband, digital television and telephony package to more than 700,000 homes.
Under the arrangement, Magnet's technology will be carried via the ESB's high-voltage transmission lines, which contain a fibre-optic capability. ESB will not deliver the in-home product itself.
Connex, the French company that runs the Luas system in Dublin, made an operating profit of €327,949 last year after the introduction of the tram service.
More than 70,000 passengers use Luas each day.
