Vol. 396 No. 3
16 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Communications if his attention has been drawn to the practice of certain individuals in setting up satellite dishes and illegally relaying television signals received by householders in local areas at substantial charges; if he intends to take any steps to deal with this practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The existence of one such illegal cable system relaying satellite channels has recently been brought to my attention.
The provisions of the Broadcasting and Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1988 apply to any such system and the operators are liable to action by my Department and on conviction are liable to heavy penalties.
Will the Minister indicate if the case referred to is in the Wexford region?
It is. There is one in south County Dublin and one in Wexford.
In order to head off this practice which is emerging of operators effectively offering an illegal service in advance of the MMDS system coming on stream will the Minister, in consultation with RTE, use the airwaves to warn people against this type of operation? people are being asked to subscribe to what is essentially an illegal system.
That is a good idea and I will consider it.
Will the Minister accept that there is a degree of misunderstanding about how the MMDS system will operate, how it will come on stream and so on? Will he accept also that there is a great risk of illegal operators working under cover in the interval?
The country as a whole, other than Sligo and Donegal, has been allocated to the various franchise holders and they have a role to play to protect their own areas.
