Mr. Patrick Neary:

In any NBI roll-out, there will always be the issue of the next premises along the road. When the NBI defines an area it is going to, the next premises down the road will see fibres come within a certain distance of it that will not go any further. The main strategy is to make sure that NBI can deliver this as quickly as possible to all premises.

NBI has looked at whether commercial fibre can be extended out so that those premises are served. Mr. Ó hÓbáin alluded to the fact that NBI went to the market to see what solutions are available. There was a high level of interest from the market that was shortlisted down to five providers. NBI is hopeful it can run pilots next year whereby it can extend commercial fibre to premises that are very adjacent to those who already have it. That is certainly something that is on the cards that it is trying to investigate. It includes not just the extension of existing commercial fibre but alternative technology as well, such as, potentially, wireless and other technologies. A body of work is definitely being conducted by the NBI to investigate that.

From the point-to-point perspective, there are providers in the market today that provide point-to-point wireless connections. A number of these businesses might rely on that at present or, if they do not, are certainly investigating it, if they see the NBI roll-out is a number of years away.