Mr. Kevin O'Brien:

Turning to the next slide on mobile penetration, one can see at an overall level that mobile penetration is very high in Ireland. There is a greater than 100% penetration rate, which means the vast majority of citizens have a mobile device. Therefore, there is high take-up.

The slide shows stability over a number of quarters. The blue area represents mobile phones per person. The red area is where mobile SIMs are used for mobile broadband, which Mr. Godfrey mentioned is an important way in which we get broadband in parts of the country. Finally, on the top, there is what we call machine-to-machine use of the mobile network. For example, this could be where a vending machine talks from a remote area to a central point about the amount of stock it contains. We see an increasing amount of such activity through the mobile networks over time.

The next slides captures market share. There are two interesting points to make here. First, one will note familiar household names in the large pieces: Vodafone in red; O2 in navy; Eircom, which retails in the mobile space as either Meteor or eMobile, in green; and 3 in black.

The tops of the columns depict the smaller market shares held by Tesco Mobile, Lycamobile and certain others. That category consists of what we call mobile virtual network operators, or MVNOs. They are companies which do not own networks but rent minutes or capacity from the network owners which they resell. MVNOs have a small share of the market. The interesting thing members will see before the final column on the right is the impact of the merger I mentioned. The navy and black join together as 3 after the merger with a much larger market share.

The next slide concerns mobile costs for the consumer. What we have seen over many years now and captured on the chart for the last two quarters is a continuing decline in revenue per customer for the mobile operator. That means an improvement in price for the consumer. Pre-pay and post-pay are both set out and the green line in the middle captures the average paid per subscription for mobile services. While people are using more and more data and somewhat less text and voice, they are paying less in overall terms for the service they get.

The next slide captures in statistical form one of the behavioural changes of which we are all aware. On the left, the number of texts per user is set out. This has declined over time. On the right, the increased use of data for mobile broadband users on the mobile broadband network is set out in red. Data use by smartphone users is set out in green. We are using more and more data which is interesting in terms of consumer behaviour as we move to apps, including communication and social media apps, and away from traditional texting. This has major implications for operators and the type of networks they must build to meet this need.

The next slide concerns mobile coverage licence conditions. I emphasise that it is licence conditions. We have always observed that operators provide coverage far exceeding the conditions included in their licences. There is an historic evolution in the slide. The first line - 2G GSM - relates to the original mobile phone licences from the mid-1990s. These were voice and text only services and a specific type of technology with certain roll-out requirements. A number of the licences are no longer in place. These licences were auctioned in 2012 and are being reused by operators under different conditions. It is important to note that the 2G network and those 2G licences with roll-out obligations resulted in national networks being built. The 3G licensing stage and the auction in 2012 took place against a backdrop of networks which were already largely in place. What occurred was a change within the network. Coverage is measured as a percentage of population. Operators have always exceeded their licence conditions in this regard. ComReg verifies that operators meet their licence conditions and we have done this through drive tests. We are planning significantly extended drive tests into the future.

I mentioned earlier that 4G roll-out is happening. On foot of the 2012 auction, operators have more spectrum and spectrum licences have been liberalised, which is a European requirement. It gives more space to the operators to use different technologies. There are a couple of statements there from operators about what they will offer to the consumer with 4G.

My final slide looks a little bit to the future. We expect to see continuing aggressive competition. The week before last, we put out an information note in relation to the early stage of the next potential spectrum award process. Other spectrum bands are becoming available and we are at an early stage of consultation in relation to what those could be. What we will see in coming years is ComReg making more spectrum available to the marketplace to allow operators to offer more and more services. In relation to the merger I mentioned earlier, one of the requirements of the European Commission in approving it was for 3 to make certain commitments to alleviate certain concerns. One set of commitments 3 made was to allow more virtual mobile operators into the marketplace. The two operators who have come forward are UPC and Carphone Warehouse. They are not yet active in the market but they are preparing to enter it as virtual mobile operators.

Colleagues from the Department will talk to the committee about Government intervention in rural areas, but I note that well-flagged future interventions are planned. A final comment from ComReg for the purposes of the presentation is to note that we have not really talked today about what we do on consumer empowerment and upholding consumer rights. It is an important part of our work and we will continue to do it.