Mr. Kevin O'Brien:

Deputy McEntee asked how we regulate for the Irish market. Obviously, Ireland is a country with rurally dispersed population, so this is also relevant to Deputy Griffin’s questions.

I will give some examples. The universal service obligation means everybody is guaranteed the right to a network connection at a fixed point. We guarantee the price for this will be the same throughout the country. Seven or eight years ago ComReg licensed spectrum to be used to provide broadband in a way which had not been done in most of Europe. Broadband was provided in rural areas which did not have access to it at the time and there was a big take-up of fixed wireless services. The fixed networks are catching up with this and replacing it. We are now working on how Eircom prices its wholesale broadband and bitstream products. Much of what we are doing is examining the incentives for Eircom to invest outside urban areas and how we will ensure it does not overcharge or cut other operators out of the market.

These are three quickfire examples which are all undertaken more or less under existing Irish and European legislative frameworks. We can do them because of the European Commission's proposals, not despite them. The European Commission is our friend in giving these powers to regulators throughout Europe. To date, it has given them in a way which allows for a degree of choice and flexibility at local level because they are directives which are transposed. If we move to a defined regulation approach, this potential flexibility will be lost.