Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Is the Minister definitively stating that he will not take a similar initiative as was taken in Northern Ireland, where BT won a tendering competition to enable the Six Counties to be fully broadband enabled? What does the Minister expect will happen regarding local loop unbundling? When telecom companies other than Eircom make a case to either an Oireachtas committee or Members, it is generally top of the agenda and an issue about which they feel upset. Will the Minister comment on the consequent high cost of DSL and the low speeds we have in comparison with countries such as Korea and Japan? When will the interactive public sector broker for the citizen be fully operational? This is within the remit of the Minister and Deputy Kitt is also involved.

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