Vol. 425 No. 7
414 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the anxiety and frustration of householders in the Loughrea area of County Galway who will be denied television signals at much lower cost from a local deflector system; if he regards the new MMDS system as being very costly; his views on the fact that many householders are being denied a choice of service; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
In March 1987, the then Minister for Communications, Mr. Jim Mitchell, TD, announced the introduction of Multipoint Microwave Distribution Systems (MMDS) to this country. In February 1988 his successor, Minister Burke, after a careful reappraisal of the matter announced the Government's decision to proceed with MMDS. In effect, therefore, successive Governments have decided that it would neither be practical nor in the national interest to license illegal rebroadcasting or deflector systems. The reasons have been given in a number of replies to questions in this House. In particular, I refer the Deputy to Question No. 65 on 18 May 1988, columns 1791-92, volume 380, Official Report No. 8 for that day, Question No. 87 on 20 November, 1990 columns 1802-3, volume 402, Official Report for that day and Question No. 2 on 2 April 1992, columns 417-419, volume 418 of the Official Report for that day. It has also been explained in answer to parliamentary questions in the past why UHF deflector systems, for practical and policy reasons, cannot be licensed and, therefore, do not and never have constituted an acceptable alternative means of providing a multichannel television service on a nationwide basis to areas which are not cabled.
On the question of cost I refer the Deputy to my predecessor's reply to Question No. 196 on 23 June 1992, columns 719-720, volume 421, No. 4, of the Official Report for that day. Charges for MMDS will have to reflect the considerable investment involved in establishing MMDS systems and the ongoing operating costs such as licence fees and copyright charges associated with providing a high quality service on a national basis in a business-like way. Inevitably, these costs will be higher than those associated with many of the deflector systems, which because of their illegal nature, avoid paying such costs. However, as with cable, there are "easy payment" schemes available to MMDS subscribers.
The MMDS licence for the County Galway area, including Loughrea, is held by Cablelink Limited.
