Vol. 548 No. 5
55 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the agreement he has reached with the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation regarding the fee to be charged for the new third generation mobile phone licence. [5568/02]
As the Deputy will be aware, under section 111(6) of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983, as amended by Statutory Instrument No. 96 of 1998, my consent is required for the charging of a fee for such licences.
In summary, the fee structure proposed by the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, and approved by me is as follows:
For the B licences, of which there are three to be issued: A total nominal fee of €114 million per licence –€44 million to be paid upfront with the balance payable over the life of the 20 year licences following an initial moratorium of three years. For the A licence – just one will be issued: A total nominal fee of €51 million –€13 million to be paid up front with the balance payable over the life of the 20 year licence following an initial moratorium of five years.
These charges reasonably reflect the value of the licences issued, having regard to the non-financial obligations involved in the licence terms and to the importance of third generation mobile telephony to the development of the telecoms infrastructure in Ireland.
The ODTR launched the competition for the selection of third generation licensees on 18 December last. The closing date for receipt of applications for the competition will be 27 March with the results to be announced in June and roll-out of services to begin by January 2004.
