Mr. Fergal Mulligan:

Could a member state do it? A member state can introduce primary legislation. The UK has done so in respect of 10 Mbps. We spoke to Broadband Delivery UK, BDUK, several years ago about USO as part of the strategy and determining our best options, and we spoke to it as part of the reappraisal in 2018 when Eir left about whether a USO was an option.

We have explored this with BDUK, which got a lot of legal advice from general counsel on what is possible within the framework, the regulations and local legislation. That led to a primary legislation instrument imposing a universal service obligation, USO, of 10 Mbps until such time as the commercial sector-public sector, with its funding through state aid, gets to the area. This would apply during the interregnum until a provider could offer 50 Mbps or 100 Mbps.