Mr. Alex Chisholm:

Happily, yes. It was, indeed, designated at the end of June last as the universal service provider for a two-year period. It is a requirement for us under the universal services regulations to designate a company as the universal service provider. We have to consider which is the most suitable company. We went for that consideration on a public consultation and determined that Eircom was the most suitable company.

Its obligations, as the universal service provider, relate to an obligation to provide installations of telecoms equipment to new build where there is some, obviously, limited, at present.

They must maintain a basic quality of service. Linked to this we have put in place quite significant quality of service standards, which have been effective in improving the level of service given at that basic level. The underlying idea behind the universal service is that if a universal service requirement did not exist, some parts of the population might not be covered by anybody. It is in economic and social interests to give everyone access to telephony.