Vol. 487 No. 3
121 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the number of telephones per thousand population as at the end of the year 1997; if she will give the estimated number in the year 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4012/98]
The number of telephones lines, including fixed and mobile, per thousand population as at end 1997 was approximately 540.
With the increasing pace of liberalisation in the telecommunications market and given that, by 2010, there will have been a decade of full market competition in this sector, coupled with the overall expected levels of strong economic growth, it can be anticipated that telephone ownership, whether fixed or mobile, will have grown substantially by then. It would not be possible to reliably estimate the number of telephones per thousand population in the year 2010.
