TELEVISION deflector operators the south-east last night expressed serious reservations about key aspects of Mr Alan Dukes's new scheme for multi-channel services and renewed their threat to field election candidates.
Initial delight turned to disappointment when the operators received full details of Mr Dukes's announcement. They claimed there were serious flaws for them in the small print of the statement and abandoned plans to resume transmitting last night to the thousands of Waterford homes.
Mr Dermot Kirwan, spokesman for the South-East Community Deflector Association, said at least four key aspects of the scheme were unsatisfactory and if these difficulties could not be overcome by the end of the week, plans for a political campaign would be resumed.
"There is no guarantee there that operators who have applied for a licence can remain on the air until the full regulations can be complied with," he said. "We have been given nothing to enable us to go back into court to have the injunction against us lifted.
"There is no guarantee in it that we'll get a licence and no guarantee that anything will be done before the election. There is nothing to favour people like us who have been providing a service for the last 15 years.
Mr Kirwan claimed that Mayo and Cork deflector groups shared their reservations.
The south-east operators complained there seemed to be no provision for them to secure an immediate temporary licence to enable them to continue broadcasting. They were also concerned that the MMDS and cable operators were being allowed to compete to "take over" the areas where the deflector groups have filled a gap in services previously.
"The MMDS and cable operators will be able to secure the monopoly by applying for a licence, and they will have money to back them."
Earlier, Mr Kirwan had said the deflector groups would make every endeavour to meet the conditions set out on copyright, royalty fees and tax clearance certificates.
His preliminary response to early reports of the announcement was that the Government seemed to be recognising that the deflector groups had a role to play.
As the finer details emerged, however, the group's reservations grew - particularly over the apparent absence of any provisions which would allow them to resume broadcasting immediately. They expressed suspicion over a" clause promising that the licence application arrangements would be drawn up "as soon as possible".