Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister. I am glad to have the opportunity to reiterate the sentiments I expressed and observations I made at the relevant committee in 2010. This debate provides an opportunity to appraise the position with regard to the level of mobile phone coverage available in Ireland and also to consider what has happened since 2010.

In the period 2008 to 2010, there was a 30% increase in the number of text messages sent. Between March 2010 and March 2011, 5.6 billion texts were sent by Vodafone customers alone. The breakdown of the relevant statistics shows that of the various mobile phone operators, 3 has a market share of 5.8%, Meteor's share is 20%, Vodafone's is 42% and O2's is 32%. There is a need to analyse why there has been such an exponential growth, approximately 10.8%, in the number of texts sent. We could state that things may be good and that from a business point of view, this could be seen as a positive development. However, we must also examine the position with regard to various areas in which there is basically no mobile phone coverage. This is leading to large numbers of dropped calls.

In 2010, the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, used a very specific methodology to measure mobile phone coverage. This was population-based and was focused on the cities. In carrying out its analysis, ComReg engaged in test drives along national primary and secondary routes. Obviously, this did not take account of coverage on smaller roads and, as a result, we can question the methodology, particularly as the results which it produced have given Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 the opportunity to state that they provide 99% coverage. Under the criteria set down by ComReg, this is probably correct but it is certainly not the case in reality.

It is important to point out that we are not seeking the provision of additional masts, rather we are seeking an increase in "piggybacking". Many companies are already working together on this. They are also working in partnership with different State agencies. For example, RTE is renting space on its masts to various phone companies. However, there is still a need to discover whether coverage has increased.

My mobile phone bills have not been dramatically reduced. I have spoken to others whose bills have not been reduced either. In addition, there are still high numbers of dropped calls. There is a technical issue with regard to 3G coverage, which relates to videos, e-mails and large documents. In the context of this matter, I refer specifically to 2G coverage. When I leave my home in Carrigart to drive to Dublin each Tuesday, it is a nightmare when I try to have conversations with people on my phone. I travel through Northern Ireland on my way south and even though the Orange and Vodafone UK networks operate there, the coverage is still disastrous.

There are people in the Gallery from Lifford, County Donegal, and I am aware that they have difficulties with dropped calls and that their phones drop into and out of UK coverage. In that context, there is a need for a debate on the entire cross-Border dimension to this matter. When the Ceann Comhairle attends meetings of the North-South Parliamentary Forum hosted in Northern Ireland by the Speaker of the Assembly, William Hay, MLA, he incurs costs if he receives e-mails on his laptop or iPad. We must, therefore, consider this matter in the context of the North-South integration commitments contained in the Good Friday Agreement. We must also consider why we are incurring additional costs and the role played by ComReg.

Let us consider the good co-operation in which the United Kingdom and Ireland engaged in recent years, even prior to Queen Elizabeth ll's visit last May. There is no doubt that a great deal of business is being done. In that context, some 47% of our exports go to the United Kingdom. If we want to turn intangibles such as the positive goodwill between our two countries into something tangible, we should consider ways in which we can make it easier for people to communicate while doing business.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to place on the record of the House some remarks in respect of this matter. I am also glad to take the opportunity to outline some of the initiatives undertaken to improve the quality of telecommunications infrastructure in regional and rural areas.

As Deputy McHugh will be aware, the electronic communications market in this country is fully liberalised and is regulated by the independent regulator, namely, the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. The provision and quality of electronic communications services, including broadband, is a matter for those private sector service providers which are regulated and licensed by ComReg. Broadband services are provided by private service providers over various platforms, including DSL - that is, via telephone lines - fixed wireless, mobile, cable, fibre and satellite. As Minister, I have no role in the operational matters of these private companies.

The role of the State in the provision of broadband infrastructure is generally limited to policy and regulation. In terms of direct service provision, the State can only intervene in areas where the commercial service providers have been unable to offer services on a commercial basis. In this regard, the Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband into these areas. In the case of one such intervention, namely, the national broadband scheme, broadband services are available from 3 in all of the 1,028 electoral divisions designated to be covered under the scheme. This includes 200 of the 514 electoral divisions located within the Border area, namely, those in counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo. This represents just under 40% of the total number of electoral divisions in the region. As regards the remaining electoral divisions there, the national broadband scheme was prohibited from providing a service in these areas which were deemed to be already served and where to do so would give rise to an unacceptable level of market distortion.

While broadband and mobile phone coverage is now available across the entire country, I am aware that there continue to be a relatively small number of premises that are not capable of receiving broadband services. This is primarily due to technical and other reasons such as suitability of telephone lines, distance from an enabled exchange and no line of sight. The Government's most recent intervention, namely, the rural broadband scheme, which is currently in the verification phase with licensed service providers, is aimed at making broadband services available to individual unserved premises in rural non-national broadband scheme areas. This could include individual premises located in the non-national broadband scheme electoral divisions in Border counties. A total of 1,148 applications to the rural broadband schemes were received from those counties. Each application corresponds to an individual household or premises.

The advances in the provision of private sector broadband, along with the interventions of Government I have outlined, means that Ireland will reach the European Commission's Digital Agenda for Europe target of having basic broadband available to everybody well in advance of the 2013 deadline. The Government accepts that the widespread availability of high-speed broadband is, as Deputy McHugh has argued, a key requirement in delivering future economic and social development. With basic broadband services available across Ireland, the challenge now is to accelerate the roll-out of high-speed services.

I would like to conclude by mentioning the next generation broadband task force, which I chair. The task force is considering how best to facilitate the roll out of next generation broadband throughout Ireland, which reflects a commitment under the NewERA proposals in the programme for Government. The task force will conclude its deliberations shortly. It is my intention to consider the findings, conclusions and recommendations of its report and to move quickly thereafter to put in place the optimal policy environment for the delivery of high speed broadband, and thereby assist in delivering on the commitment in the programme for Government.

I thank the Deputy for raising this topic and am glad to have had the opportunity to respond.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Minister's clarification and I appreciate the work in which he is involved. There are rural areas with no masts and where the dongle can be used on a laptop as well. That has all been acknowledged. The Minister is correct to say that these are private sector players and that he does not have a direct role in what they invest, but we have a role through ComReg. Consumers need the utmost protection in terms of the money they invest when signing up to a service provider, and in the service that they receive. Many will argue that they are not getting service in certain areas, such as in parts of Donegal, Monaghan and Kildare.

We have to examine whether ComReg's objectives to analyse mobile phone coverage through the methodology of the population base is good enough. We can be open about this conversation and it is good to have an ongoing analysis. It is important to see if the Department of Justice and Equality is open minded to use Garda station masts as piggy backs for mobile phone services, rather than have new masts built. I know that RTE masts have been used by different service providers.

Can the Minister analyse the methodology used by ComReg to measure the broadband coverage? The advertising literature of Vodafone and O2 claim that they have 99% coverage. That is the case according to their rules, but in reality they do not.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I accept Deputy McHugh's point that a methodology that relies solely on population does leave rural areas in some difficulty. The way things have developed in recent times means that there is fierce competition between the private sector companies for the urban consumer, but some of the same companies are not very interested in the less populous areas to which Deputy McHugh makes reference. That is a concern.

I was looking at the electoral divisions for the counties, which is the subject of the motion. There is only 35%-58% coverage of the national broadband scheme in those areas. That leaves a gap. The purpose of the next generation task force is to devise a road map for the future that will identify where there is normal competition between the private sector operators and the rest, and figure out what the Government can do about the rest. There is a basic service everywhere nowadays, but I accept that it can be too basic in some areas and that there is a genuine problem with speed and quality that must be addressed.

I hear Deputy McHugh's essential point, which is that there is a necessity to re-examine the driving methodology of the regulator, which is population based. I certainly will take that on board.