Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Of the first two I mentioned, Mr. Thompson comes from a strong American position and has experience in the fixed-line business, while Mr. Sanda from Japan has extensive experience in mobile networks, particularly in the evolution of mobile networks at the present time. It is an example of regulatory, business — both fixed-line and mobile — and international backgrounds. It is not easy to get people and I commend those who gave of their time in support of the Government and the Irish people in developing policy in this area.

Regarding the inclusion of domestic business users, I did not exclude that and referred earlier to meeting providers. I suggested to some of these people to join the forum but we decided to keep it as an international forum before opening up to a wider consultation forum, which would involve telecom providers, industry users, enterprise and development agencies and anyone with an interest in this rapidly changing area. We did not preclude it but, having suggested it to some of the Irish industry operators who have taken a strong view on it, we decided it was better to leave it as it is.

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