Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

I thank committee members for giving us the opportunity to appear before them to discuss ComReg's regulatory role in connection with electronic communications markets in Ireland. I know that they are particularly interested in issues relating to broadband and mobile coverage. As the Chairman said in a statement yesterday, high-speed broadband for every home, school and business is necessary to stimulate social development and commercial investment.

I am joined by my colleagues and fellow commissioners, Mr. Kevin O'Brien and Mr. Gerry Fahy. We aim to inform members of our role in these important matters and answer questions they may have.

There has been significant progress and development in broadband roll-out and increasing mobile coverage in recent years. However, advanced services are not available everywhere and work remains to be done to extend coverage to areas not currently served. As committee members are aware, ComReg commissioned and subsequently published a study of broadband speeds based on measurements made by consumers. The survey examined the experience of end-users and gave useful information on how the speed experienced was affected by factors within the customer's environment. However, it was not designed to measure the coverage of different broadband networks or to identify black spots. ComReg collects aggregate data about the market, but it does not collect data for individual counties or regions. The best, most accurate and up-to-date information on the geographical coverage of broadband networks is contained on the maps available on the website of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. They identify the locations and premises where high-speed broadband is provided by the commercial sector or where commercial provision is planned by the end of 2016. They also identify the areas where the State plans to intervene to ensure high-speed broadband is provided.

We are happy to answer questions members may have about the matters raised and look forward to the discussion. We have prepared a presentation on the key developments in the broadband and mobile markets. I understand it has been circulated to members. I will begin with a brief overview of ComReg. Mr. O'Brien will deal with broadband issues, while Mr. Fahy will deal with mobile phone matters.

The role of ComReg and the reason regulators have been established in Ireland and other EU countries is to regulate communications markets and ensure they operate effectively in the interests of end-users and society. ComReg was founded in 2002 under the Communications Regulation Act and has a number of statutory objectives, including promoting the interests of end-users, facilitating investment and competition and ensuring efficient use of the radio spectrum.

All of these objectives are very important for the broadband and mobile services that the committee is interested in.

I shall now talk a little bit about what we do. The functions that ComReg has are derived from both Irish and EU law, probably rather more from EU law than from national law. I have listed some of the important functions on the slide. One thing we do is regulate operators with significant market power. That means we make sure that competition works effectively and that the operators that have a dominant position in the market, which is mostly Eir, are unable to squeeze out competitors and there is room for people to offer choice.

ComReg upholds consumer rights. We make sure that all operators in the market treat consumers fairly, provide accurate bills and so forth. We also manage the use of the radio spectrum. In other words, we make sure that the mobile operators and other operators that want to use radio communications are able to do so and that the resource is used in the most efficient way. We ensure the delivery of the universal service obligations both in telecommunications and post. For telecommunications that means basic voice services must be available at every fixed location in the State. We have a number of other functions that are related to specific aspects of the communications markets.

I wish to point out a couple of things. I believe that when one says what one does, it is also useful to say what one does not do. First, we do not tell operators what technologies to use or where to invest. It is up to them to make those decisions in the light of the market and their regulatory obligations. Second, we are not a policy maker. That means we do not spend public money on making sure that socially desirable services are provided. That is a matter for the Department. As members of the committee will be aware, the Department has a significant initiative, under the national broadband plan, to do precisely that.

The last slide that I shall present before handing over reminds us about some trends in the marketplace. From the user perspective, the uses that are being made of communications are very different now from what they were three, four or five years ago. There is a lot more use of video streaming. Some people may be watching the proceedings of this committee through video streaming, which is a very big use of the Internet and broadband networks. People use social media a lot, not just at home but when they are out and on the go. People are mostly accessing these services through their mobile phones, smartphones and tablets rather than traditional computers. The access is largely at home or, after that, either through WiFi or through mobile networks. Far fewer phone calls and traditional voice calls are being made, particularly on fixed networks, and less text messages.

I shall discuss the networks side. Network operators, to support such usage, are putting fibre deeper into the networks. Where traditional networks were mostly copper, between the exchange and the customers' premises, we are seeing fibre being used to support the higher speed services. We are also seeing much better wireless connections, faster connections through 4G and also more connections as mobile operators are able to and permitted to re-purpose spectrum for other purposes. Having said that, people use communications in different ways. Many people have benefited from such use. We acknowledge that there is still work to do to make sure that those benefits are spread to everybody in the State.

I shall hand over to Mr. O'Brien who shall talk about fixed matters.