Jim O'Keeffe
Ceist:286 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the regulatory procedures which need to be followed before a public phone box is closed in a rural area; and if she will give details in this regard. [24652/00]
Written Answers. - Phone Services.
Under the European Communities (Voice Telephony and Universal Service) Regulations 1999, S.I. No. 71 of 1999, which I signed in March 1999, a person designated as having a universal service obligation under those regulations in respect of the provision of public pay telephones is obliged to ensure that sufficient numbers of pay telephones are provided in a geographic area, taking into account the population density, to satisfy all reasonable needs for such services in that area. The designation of any such person and supervision of any such obligation is a function of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation and I have no function in that regard. The director has designated Eircom as having the universal service obligation for public pay telephones in the State as a whole.