Mr. Gerry Fahy:

I cannot tell the Senator specifically because the benefit of competition is that it will drive much of the progress in terms of who wants to move first. There are operators serving those communities and a new entrant is coming into the market. There will be a dynamic in terms of competition in this regard and we strongly hope there will be many quick returns. To be clear, the coverage or roll-out target is three years. It is not specified what should happen in years one and two as the reference is to the end of year three. I can tell the Senator that the degree of interest in the spectrum far surpasses ComReg's expectations. I notice that there is quite a lot of interest internationally in the outcome achieved and the fact that it was well ahead of any other international benchmark in terms of the price paid for spectrum. That shows the degree of interest in using the spectrum.

The Senator mentioned the availability of broadband services in rural areas. I invite my colleague, Mr. Godfrey, to talk about broadband services in rural areas and, perhaps, the national broadband plan.