The fast-changing telecoms industry got its first regulator in June. Ms Etain Doyle, a former civil servant, is now responsible for a vast area of telecommunications issues.

These issues include licensing and regulating the telecommunications market and managing radio frequencies. Ms Doyle is said to be deeply entrenched in a number of issues at present including the row over TV deflectors.

In a speech at a conference of the Institute of Public Administration last month, Ms Doyle said: "An independent public body needs to listen and to explain what it is about. In my view the best way of doing this is by open consultation and transparent decisionmaking."

Ironically, the regulator has yet to give a press briefing there was none even on the day details of the third mobile phone licence were issued. The State asset involved will be sold for £10 million.

Questions to her office, although generally answered, come with few details. She has addressed a public forum twice since taking office in June.

Some independent players in the industry complain about Ms Doyle's manner of dealing with them. In some cases she has written to telecoms operators asking their opinions on weighty matters and given them a couple of days to respond. They also contend that their views are not reflected in her decisions.

Several firms told The Irish Times that Ms Doyle sends out letters unsigned, or sends them out with a rubber stamp bearing her name. They say they find this insulting.

When this issue was raised by the Sunday Business Post, her office replied: "It has not been brought to the director's attention that the stamping of circular letters is a matter of concern to the industry."

That reply is indicative in itself, said one source. Another operator said virtually all documents emanating from her office have, "This is not a legal document" carried on them.

Ms Doyle is the daughter of Colonel E D Doyle who writes on military matters for The Irish Times. She spent a period with ESB International, the commercial arm of the ESB, having begun her career as an administrative officer in the Department of Finance. Former colleagues describe her as very bright. She has also worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Graduate School of Business at UCD and for the EU in Moscow.

Although she has no background in the telecommunications business, her father was an adviser on telecommunications to Independent Newspapers at one stage. Aged 44 and single, she lives in Dublin 6.

While regarded as a high-flying civil servant, several operators felt that the post should have gone to someone who had a background in telecommunications regulation.

There has been criticism of her office's handling of the routers issue. Routers are used by some companies to pull calls off the public network and onto their own. Ms Doyle said they were illegal.

Several operators say the regulator's office is under-resourced. However, one source said Ms Doyle had brought a new work ethic to it.

The telecoms industry and the regulator are set to become somewhat closer next year. They will be funding her office and how much everybody pays will be a source of heated debate.