Mr. Mark Griffin:

We would have preferred to have more than one bidder at the table at the final stage. It is not unusual in the case of some large infrastructure projects to have only one bidder at the table. For example, when the equivalent of our high speed broadband project was rolled out in the UK there was only one bidder at the table at the end, the incumbent, BT. At an earlier stage in the process, the invitation to make detailed submissions, we got two outline bids, one from Eir and one from the Granahan McCourt-led consortium. That indicates the ball park they were in. We will have to ensure when the process is being concluded that we are in a position to demonstrate the technical capacity, the business plan, the commercial health, financial standing and the ability of the company to roll out the network and to comply with the contractual provisions the State will put in place.