asked the Minister for Communications the way in which he intends to licence operators of the MMDS system recently announced; the charges which will apply to consumers; and if the scheme will be extended to areas even where a small proportion only of householders are willing to subscribe.

Applications for licences for MMDS will be invited by my Department in accordance with new Statutory Regulations to be made under the Wireless Telegraph Act, 1926. These regulations are currently at an advanced stage of preparation and will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

The charges which will apply will be a matter for the licensee in the first place and will depend on a range of factors such as the investment involved in each particular system, market size, take-up of subscribers, etc. The expectation is, however, that charges will be of the order of those currently applying in the more modern and recently built cable systems, about £100 rental per annum. It is expected that a once-off installation charge of about the same amount will be payable.

Applications for licences will be invited in accordance with a frequency plan designed to achieve national coverage. Any householder within the licensed service area of an established MMDS transmitter will be able to subscribe to the service.

In an area where there is not sufficient take-up to make it commercially justifiable for an MMDS licensee, does the Minister envisage that the service will, nonetheless, be provided? Will the charges which he mentioned be standardised across all MMDS providers or does he envisage regional differences in the cost, depending on take-up and difficulties in distributing the system?

There is no question of the State involving itself in the construction of these transmitters. I am confident, having regard to the interest already shown by the cable companies and other commercial interests in the announcement I made at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis in relation to MMDS, that there will be no difficulty in securing sufficient operators for the system on a countrywide basis. I do not envisage that there will be geographical variations in relation to the costs.

Am I to understand that there will be a uniform charge across the country or will it be at the discretion of the licensee? If there is not a sufficient take-up from subscribers, does the Minister envisage that the service will not be provided or, alternatively, much higher charges being levied on those regions?

I am much more confident about the take-up than the Deputy appears to be. I have no doubt that there will be national coverage, as that is the intention. The indications are there already from inquiries to the Department about the commercial opportunities that this new system makes available in the improved business environment as a result of the Government's policies. People are looking for investment opportunities and I am sure this will be taken up on a national basis. Of course there are variations in cable systems at present on a national basis between Cablelink, Dublin, Cork Communications, and Westward, Limerick. The same applies to illegal broadcasters who are rebroadcasting. However, I aim to minimise these variations as much as possible.