Mobile operator 3 Ireland has won a contract worth €40 million from the Irish government to roll-out mobile broadband to the country’s rural areas, reports Irish Independent. 3 reportedly won the deal at the expense of eircom – Ireland’s incumbent fixed-line operator – and will be formally awarded the contract in the next few weeks, the report says. The project – known as the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) – is scheduled to be operational in mid-2010, though could stretch to 2011. The NBS aims to deliver high-speed Internet services to the estimated 10 percent of the Irish population that live in remote areas where it is considered uneconomical to build-out fixed-line broadband infrastructure.

The report notes that the only other bidder for the contract, BT Ireland, pulled out of the bidding process in July. BT had planned to use WiMAX for the network but reportedly abandoned the project as it would have required building an excessive number of base stations. However, as a 3 Ireland partner, BT is still expected to be involved in the project. eircom, meanwhile, said yesterday it was “extremely disappointed” with the government’s decision to award the contract to 3.