Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

Senator Joe O'Reilly is right that Cavan-Monaghan is probably a microcosm of Ireland. Cavan town is the place where SIRO made its first investment in an all-fibre network. There is a really sharp difference between the services available in Cavan town and beyond it. Eir was also responsible for investment. One part of where the Senator represents is as well served as Seoul, Singapore and Hong Kong, while others are very poorly served. The Department, in its national broadband plan, has published a map of where high-speed broadband services are available and expected to become available. I do not have the map in front of me, but it will confirm absolutely that the population centres which comprise tiny landmasses are the places where many of the high-speed broadband services dare expected to be.

The biggest initiative to address the problem of rural broadband coverage, as I alluded to in the presentation, is State intervention. That is not ComReg's responsibility; it is an intervention being run by the Department. ComReg has a few roles in support of it. Under state aid guidelines, it is an adviser to the Department on various competition matters. We have seconded staff to help with that initiative.

On there being an immediate benefit, I echo what Mr. Fahy said. The wireless operators represent the quickest way of improving broadband coverage. I do not have the benefit of a home in Cavan-Monaghan as my family home is in north Cork, but I have certainly found that, since I switched from the fixed to the mobile network, the speed has increased from 1.5 Mbps to 70 Mbps. Even where I live, 5 km from the village centre, it is certainly possible to obtain very high speeds. The operator that has been trialling this service has certainly been saying publicly in the past couple of years and in response to our consultations that there was a limit to the investment it could make until the spectrum had been reassigned with a long-licence duration supporting investment. I do not know how quickly its plans are to be realised, but its intention which it has aired publicly was to expand investment once it knew the licences had been awarded. Probably the best entity to answer the Senator's question on what could happen within months would be that operator. I will be happy to provide the Senator with the contact details afterwards.