Vol. 394 No. 5
asked the Minister for Communications when he will be in a position to announce the granting of a licence to operate the MMDS system in Waterford county and city; and the approximate periods of time which will elapse before the system comes into operation.
14.
asked the Minister for Communications if he will introduce the necessary amending legislation to provide for the establishment of a network of community based deflector systems.
20.
asked the Minister for Communications if he has decided to shelve the introduction of the MMDS system.
25.
asked the Minister for Communications the reasons MMDS licences were not issued in Cork; and whether it is proposed to do so.
27.
asked the Minister for Communications the latest position regarding the establishment of the MMDS system; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 14, 20, 25 and 27, inclusive, together. MMDS franchises have been offered to and accepted by the successful applicants in respect of all areas except Counties Donegal and Sligo. I hope to be in a position to make a decision on the award of a franchise for these latter areas shortly.
The question of when service becomes available is primarily a matter for the operators. From the information available to me, I would expect services to be coming on stream from the spring of next year. The speed with which systems are installed in any area will depend on such things as delivery of equipment, site development work, etc.
I am fully satisfied that MMDS is the only practicable way to extend real multi-channel television choice to the whole of the country and I remain fully committed to the establishment of the network. For reasons connected primarily with radio frequency spectrum scarcity and management, such choice cannot be made available through deflector systems. The question of amending legislation to provide for such systems does not arise.
The Minister is telling us, in relation to Question No. 12, that the franchise in these particular cases were granted. Will he say when they were granted and when he expects the stations to come into operation?
Is the Deputy talking about any particular one?
I should like to know about Waterford.
The forecast for the franchises coming into operation ranges from three to six months.
Is the Minister quite definite that the franchises have been granted?
Yes.
There is nothing in the media to suggest that they have been granted.
If the Deputy likes, I will name them in relation to the areas.
People want information on when the stations will come into operation.
According to the people who have the franchises, they range from three to six months. Offers have been made and accepted. Waterford is covered by Cablelink Limited, 10 Pembroke Place, Dublin 4.
Does that include the county and the city?
It is what they call "cell 27". That is the technical definition of the area. I presume it includes most of the area but there is nothing here which would give me a further breakdown.
What is the cost?
I wish to bring in Deputy O'Sullivan as Questions Nos. 14 and 20 are related.
If the MMDS system is not in place by next spring, what measures will the Minister take? Will it be an open-ended application which would mean that people would be waiting indefinitely until the company decided to provide a service?
Obviously, if there was undue delay the position would have to be reviewed. I forgot to mention, in relation to the previous supplementary, that Cork Communications also affect the Waterford area, which is covered by "cell 26" as well as "cell 27". Between the two, they will all be covered.
Will the Minister circulate the details?
Certainly.
I am awaiting a reply from the Minister to my question, as he replied to Deputy Deasy.
Go ahead.
The Minister said that the deflector system is not working and that it could not give adequate coverage in the multi-channel area. Experience has proved to be slightly different because many of the people who now have the deflector system were provided with the service at a fraction of the cost of commercial services. They want to hold on to the deflector system as for £25 per year one can get a choice of four channels in Cork whereas it costs——
A question, please.
——well over £100 to provide the same service on the Cork Communications system.
The Deputy will be aware that if one covers all the costs which accompany the normal setting up of a multi-channel system rather than getting the supply from illegals, there would be a difference in cost. However, the system which the Minister for Communications has approved will provide 11 channels nationwide. It will be a very comprehensive and high quality service and will provide a similar choice to that available in the best areas in the country. The other point in relation to that is that people who are currently rebeaming will not be taken off until the new service is up and running. I know that in some areas people are concerned that there might be a loss of service but the Minister has given an assurance that this will not be the case. The MMDS system has been very effective, it has been widely tested and will provide a very good service nationally.
A brief question from Deputy McCartan as the time has come to transfer to questions to the Minister for Justice.
Can the Minister give any indication what the average cost to the subscriber will be for the new system?
That is a separate question but I will have it looked into.
It relates to my question and I should get a reply. What will be the annual cost to the subscriber?
That remains to be seen and I do not have the information at present.
Perhaps the Minister will communicate the information to me?
I will certainly communicate any available information to the Deputy but he can take it that the cost of providing a proper, legal service will obviously be somewhat greater than the cost of providing an illegal service. I am sure the Deputy recognises that fact.
