Dr. Gary Healy:

I thank the Deputy for the question. Price obviously is a key issue for us in the industry. We all compete across this table with one another for customers and so, as Mr. Denihan noted, if we have a bad service or bad coverage we risk losing customers. However, in terms of the numbers on prices, since the start of the recession, although the inflation rate has risen slightly - by approximately 1% - prices for communications services have fallen by approximately 5% to 6% in the same period. This reflects the level of competition for customers across the country. We normally measure prices through what is called the average revenue per user and that number is published by ComReg in its quarterly reports. In the past 12 months, that number has fallen by 7% - that is, from €27 down to approximately €25. This is happening across Europe, where all mobile users are seeing lower prices. However, the reduction across Europe is approximately 5.5%, whereas in Ireland we are seeing a reduction of 7%, which actually is a reflection of the level of competition.

On County Meath and investment, we are constantly looking at investment in all counties. As for our coverage, we test our network quality. Across the industry, there are approximately 250 sites in County Meath. These sites must be maintained and we must consider how well those sites are being used, as well as looking at the alternative sites. It is a constant and expensive process, and that is where the investment goes for all operators - looking at those areas where, for example, we are unable to deal with data and consequently must improve our site for 3G or 4G. In addition, we look at new sites where we find there are black spots, and this is a constant and ongoing engineering challenge that we face. I might ask Mr. Mark Hughes to talk a little bit about mobile coverage in terms of the investment.