Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
90. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the current state of mobile phone coverage nationwide; the steps being taken to improve signal coverage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31801/15]
View answerWill the Minister of State outline the current state of mobile phone coverage nationwide? Will he take steps to improve the signal and commence a national audit of mobile phone coverage throughout the State?
The provision of mobile telephony services is subject to a requirement to secure access to the required radio spectrum by way of licence. The management of the radio spectrum is a statutory function of the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, under the Communications Regulation Act 2002, as amended. Licences issued by ComReg apply terms and conditions on mobile network operators, such as quality of service and minimum population coverage obligations. However, given that mobile services are a radio-based technology, services can be affected by several factors. These include topography, the capacity of the network and, more generally, the level and quality of access customers have to mobile phone antennae. Difficulties for service providers in erecting masts and antennae due to planning issues can also impact negatively on the quality of coverage experienced by consumers.
In terms of improving the quality and coverage of mobile services in all areas throughout the country, there are various initiatives under way to achieve this aim. The commercial telecommunications sector is investing approximately €2.5 billion in upgrading and modernising both fixed and mobile networks. This includes some €850 million invested in acquiring spectrum under the 2012 multi-band spectrum auction run by ComReg. Since then, the mobile operators have all continued to invest in rolling out 4G and enhanced 3G services nationwide. These investments are improving both the coverage and quality of voice and data services throughout the country, although I understand that some temporary disruptions to service have been encountered when upgrading mobile services nationwide.
Local authorities also have an important role to play in terms of facilitating the siting of necessary infrastructure such as masts and antennae. The Telecoms and Internet Federation, TIF, which is part of IBEC, has been quite proactive in seeking to meet local authorities and public representatives to discuss fully the various issues around mobile coverage and the factors that can impact on the quality of service consumers experience. I encourage all local authorities and public representatives to engage with the TIF on these important issues.
Does the Minister of State accept mobile phone usage has become universal over the past 20 years? There are misconceptions. Yesterday, when taking part in a debate with me, a leading member of the media made the point that at this stage it is only the tops of mountains and the bottoms of bogs which do not have mobile phone coverage. Parts of Dublin city have very poor mobile phone coverage. Our local radio station, County Sound, did a trawl and took complaints from different parts of County Cork on which we are trying to follow up. The same could be done by every local radio station the length and breadth of the country, no more, I am sure, than in the Minister of State's county of Donegal.
It is a crisis. What were blackspots 15 years ago at the turn of the new millennium are still blackspots. I contend that some parts of the country have got worse. I was quite shocked and worried by the debate we had yesterday that people would accept or think there is almost universal mobile phone coverage. There is no ten miles in any county outside of the cities where one can travel where one's phone call would not be dropped. It is time the Minister and the communications regulator took it upon themselves to audit what is out there and what type of mobile phone coverage we have. It is a tool of modern-day living, no more than any other modern convenience.
I will come back to the Deputy.
I cannot stress this enough. Will the Minister of State, together with the communications regulator, embark on an audit of mobile phone coverage in the country? I believe he and commentators would be quite shocked with what would be found.
I thank the Deputy. There is no point saying there are no problems because it is a difficulty. One hears many reasons. When the Deputy made the point yesterday on the radio, he heard technical reasons it is not happening, but the texts coming in from the public were in support of the Deputy's point that coverage has deteriorated. There are all sorts of reasons and I will not waste the Deputy's time or the public's time on whether it is because data gets priority over phone calls or whether it is because of an increase in data being communicated. There are antenna challenges. I take the Deputy's point on doing an audit of mobile phone coverage on a national basis. It is something about which we cannot be complacent. Mobile coverage is as important as broadband. People do business on their hands-free kit on the road. There is nothing more frustrating than dropping a call, and it does happen. It happened to me a couple of times today on the way to Dublin from Donegal. It happens quite regularly in Northern Ireland also. Perhaps we could widen the debate. I will certainly speak to my colleague, Deputy Frank Feighan, who is Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement to see whether different factors are involved in Northern Ireland, whether it is looking to do things differently and whether there is something we could learn together. The same sequence of dropping calls happens there as it does in the South when I am en route to Dublin.
At a meeting our party had with some of the industry providers in June, they spoke about examining some areas and perhaps turning up the power in those areas. This type of language frightened me because they were saying that if they increased the power there would be better coverage, but why is this not the case? According to legislation and statutory instrument there must be 70% coverage of the population. This should be increased to 100% of the population. The people from Kishkeam, Rockchapel and Freemount in my area, or any other towns, villages and communities with bad or no mobile phone coverage from Kerry to Donegal or Galway to Dublin, should not be disenfranchised. Why should they be without mobile phone coverage? RTE had 99.9% coverage back in the 1960s when it was first established. The technology has developed beyond what was contemplated 50 years ago. Why do these companies not provide mobile phone coverage? It is a crisis. Will the Minister of State not move it to a committee but rather take it on himself, with his senior colleague and the communications regulator, to embark within a couple of weeks on finding out the mobile phone coverage available to the citizens of the State in every community the length and breadth of the country?
I will certainly pass on the Deputy's sentiments to the Minister, Deputy White. There is a critical mix of stakeholders, be it the industry or local authorities. We can look at what did not go right in the past, when we built new motorways, and if there was enough engagement between the Government and the National Roads Authority, NRA, in the building of antennae beside motorways. We can look at what went wrong but the critical issue is to move forward. We should do anything we can as a Department to increase the engagement with different providers in the private sector. In my constituency, where there have been gaps, lapses or an unwinding of the service in certain areas, representatives of the private sector have met people in the community. We need to do more of that and I encourage service providers to let people know what is planned in a particular area and, if there are deficits, we need to meet them head on.
