Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. Wireless technology is likely to become revolutionary in the unfolding of the information society. It has the capacity to offer access to all of the on-line information services required by an individual without being restricted by wires, connections and sockets. As technology develops these services will become faster, more powerful and truly liberating. I would like to discuss the main developments in wireless technology and outline how this country is up to date in such developments and to show how the public is being kept informed on these matters.

Wireless technology is constantly evolving and is the backbone for services across many sectors including communications, transport, defence, research and emergency services. The demand for wireless services is growing rapidly due to the demand for increased mobility. The European Commission has established a radio spectrum policy group to develop a Europe-wide policy, in which the Department and ComReg participate. Some of the key elements of the policy include developments in technology, markets and regulation. The policy goes beyond electronic communications to transport and research and development. It requires widespread consultation with commercial and non-commercial stakeholders.

Wireless technology underpins mobile services, digital broadcasting and fixed wireless access. Third generation services comprise the principal area of development in mobile technology. Vodafone Ireland announced its pricing details for consumer, rather than corporate, third generation services last Monday. It will launch the services at the end of the month, making it the first mobile operator in Ireland to do so. Digital television broadcasting, which has been launched in a few countries, is under review in Ireland and I would like it to be developed here.

ComReg has issued fixed wireless access licences and modified regulations to make it easier to license new operators. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, which recently concluded trials of wireless local area network technology, will publish its findings in a report next month. Wireless technology is one of the technologies used in the metropolitan area networks programme, as part of the phased development of the programme, funded by the Department under the national development plan. Wireless technology is of value as a complementary platform in the delivery of broadband services to remote areas. New market entrants are using fixed wireless networks to connect businesses in metropolitan areas, however. I favour using the most effective technology platforms available and tailoring them to suit the environment in which they will operate.

The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources has established a website, www.broadband.gov.ie, to keep the public informed of its initiatives in these areas. The consumer advice website has been developed by the Department with the co-operation of the telecommunications industry to help consumers locate the providers of broadband services in their local areas and to compare different products. Consumers can tell the industry where a choice of broadband services is needed by voting for such locations.

There is public concern about the potential health effects arising from the widespread deployment of wireless technology, particularly in mobile cellular networks. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources maintains a watching brief on all health matters relating to non-ionising radiation. In its report on telephone masts published in 1998, the Joint Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport concluded that the evidence available to it did not indicate that there was an unacceptable health hazard from telephone masts. A recent World Health Organisation conference yielded no new evidence indicating a link between ill health and non-ionising radiation at the levels set by the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.

ComReg has put in place a substantial measurement survey programme to ensure that all radio installations in Ireland meet the guidelines. The programme was initiated at the request of the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and developed in consultation with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The survey showed that none of the installations breached the guidelines. The results of the survey are available on the ComReg website, www.comreg.ie, which has a publicly accessible database of cellular base stations to enable the public to determine which operator is responsible for a particular site.