Mr. Ciarán Ó hÓbáin:

I will provide a very simple explanation without going into the estimated subsidy. We are going to intervene in the market that is 96% of the landmass of Ireland. A network must be built to connect all of the 750,000 premises in that area. The number of premises to be served has been reduced, but they are still scattered throughout the landmass. A provider will have to use as much fibre as is needed to connect the premises on a certain road. It might connect 40 houses whereas previously it would have connected 60. It requires the same number of kilometres of fibre, but the revenue decreases to reflect the fact that 20 houses not covered. The reduced number of premises impacts on revenue without much of a change in operating costs.