Vol. 426 No. 7
232 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he will give details of the progress, if any, which has been made regarding the installation of MMDS throughout the country; his policy on the safety element of this particular system; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
MMDS systems are now operational in counties Louth, Wexford, Dublin (North), Kildare, Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny, Limerick, Kerry, Galway, Cork, Roscommon and Sligo with in excess of 24,000 subscribers in total. The provision of MMDS service to specific areas within an MMDS franchise is a matter for the licensed operator concerned. If it emerges that satisfactory service is not possible in an area from a licensee's primary transmitter, technical solutions for the provision of service unique to each such area must be devised by the licensees with consequent unavoidable delays in the provision of service to these areas.
The technical specifications laid down by my Department for licensed MMDS systems require operators to comply with the safety guidelines laid down by the Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee — the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection since May 1992 of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) on the limits of exposure to radio frequency magnetic fields in the frequency range used by the operators.
