Vol. 554 No. 5
824 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the progress he has made or has been made by the ODTR to achieve cheap Internet access; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the present cost structure offered is unhelpful to e-business and is restricting the general use of the Internet and his plans or policy to deal with the dominant de facto monopoly position held by Eircom in this market. [16781/02]
857 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the progress being made to have a flat rate Internet service as was required already of service providers in the UK in view of the fact that section 12A(8) of the EU Commission relevant legislation requires an operator to provide other operators with bitstream services and flat rate inter connections services and set prices for these services. [17486/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 824 and 857 together.
The pricing of Internet access is in the first instance a matter for the industry. It is the task of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation to supervise access and interconnection among operators for the purpose of the provision of electronic communications services, including Internet access. The regulatory framework for the sector, implemented by the director includes provisions to control the market power of operators designated as having significant market power. The director is actively involved in a number of negotiations in this regard. I have no direct function in relation to the exercise by the director of her functions in this regard. The reference to section 12A(8) of the EU Commission relevant legislation appears to be incorrect.
