Mr. Kevin O'Brien:

I used the term "marginalised" in my opening presentation, and that is particularly relevant to the issue of spectrum. As Ms Licken said, a lot of the ambition in the document is very positive, particularly on issues such as roaming and consumer rights. However, we need the detail to be right and we would question the use of a regulation rather than a directive. On the issue of spectrum, what is proposed here, for instance, with regard to the scheduling of auctions and the duration of licences that would be granted through auctions or similar competitive processes is quite dramatic in terms of moving powers in this area to the European Commission. There are five or six very large mobile operators in Europe, four of whom together account for approximately 60% of the European mobile market. If the European Commission is to decide on the awarding of spectrum and when to schedule the process for Germany, France, Italy, Spain or Ireland, we would question whether Ireland would be to the forefront of the Commission's mind in the same way as it would be to the forefront of ComReg's.