Mr. Ciarán Ó hÓbáin:

We did not call for fibre. What we did call for was a long-term approach. We called for something that will have to be upgraded over time and that has to be future-proofed. It will not be a case of coming back to have a second bite at it or finding that people are falling off the service in three, five or seven years' time. It was as a result of our taking that long-term approach that the market reacted in a positive manner. If one took a minimalist or adequate USO approach, it is clear, from the regulations, that one would be looking at 2020 and the expectation that there would be Government intervention. Even if one were to take such an approach, it would be minimalist in nature and one would have to come back to it again. That has been at the very core of the NBP and it has been accepted as being a positive aspect of the approach. It might have made matters more complex but the view was - this goes for all of the bidders in the process - that by taking that long-term approach, we would get a better outcome.