Mr. Fergal Mulligan:

This is happening in the UK and all over Europe. Copper cables have been used in all countries for the last 40 years. They have a finite life. The plan of incumbents across Europe, as the Secretary General has said, is to replace copper with fibre. Fibre does everything copper did in the past. One can use it for one's existing landline telephone, security system and television and much more. Fibre allows one to carry that massive data copper could not. The regulator's plan in Ireland, as with Ofcom in the UK and others internationally, is to bring in a regulatory regime where there will be a transition from copper to fibre. That will be overseen by regulators in every member state because there is currently a universal service obligation attached to it. It is BT in the UK while in Ireland Eircom is the universal service provider for voice. Therefore, it has to maintain the copper network nationally on those poles and can only remove it with the approval of the regulator. That is a process they are currently looking at with a view to establishing a transitional arrangement.