Vol. 404 No. 1
149 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Communications (1) the company granted the franchise for MMDS covering County Donegal; (2) the location of the masts from which it is intended that distribution will be made to cover the various parts of the county; (3) whether planning permission has been received for the erection of these masts or if any existing masts are being used, and (4) when he expects this service to be fully operational in County Donegal.
The MMDS franchisee for Donegal is Cable Management of Ireland (MMDS) Ltd. The franchise area includes County Sligo and part of County Leitrim as well as County Donegal. As a first step to provide coverage of the area the company have identified a site in County Sligo for the first of the transmitters and this is under consideration by my Department at present.
Because of the particularly difficult terrain in County Donegal the company are considering their options for the best mix of cable and MMDS in order to serve the county in the most efficient manner. It is likely that most villages and towns and other clusters of population will be served by cable with MMDS being used for the more isolated population. The company expect to begin construction during the spring of next year with service coming on stream in the summer.
The question of planning permission is a matter between the franchisee and the appropriate local authority.
