Ms Carolan Lennon:

We are challenging it on the basis on fairness. Eir is regulated to provide a telephone service, regardless of where in the State people are. It is also regulated to provide telephone books and telephone boxes. We believe that is right and fine, but Eir pays the entire bill which is €10 million per year, even though in many cases the service is provided for people who are not its customers. We are happy to pay the percentage of the bill for Eir's customers, but the other operators that benefit from the USO should pay the percentage of the bill for their customers. We have, therefore, challenged the regulator on the basis of fairness, as €10 million per year is a lot of money. We have no issue with the USO. Eir will pay its fair share, but other operators should also pay theirs.