In December 2022, my Department published Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy which supports the ambition outlined in the National Digital Strategy and sets out a number of ambitious targets, including that:
• all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028
• all populated areas will be covered by 5G no later than 2030, and
• digital connectivity will be delivered to all schools and broadband connection points by 2023
NBI reports that all 955 Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) sites have been installed before the end of 2023, of which 283 are publicly accessible Broadband Connection Point sites now connected with high-speed broadband service through a service provider contract with Vodafone. The remaining 672 installed SCPs are part of the SCP Schools Programme.
The remaining targets will be achieved through commercial operators investing in their networks, complemented by the State’s National Broadband Plan intervention. When taken together, all premises in the State will have access to high-speed broadband in every part of the country no matter how remote.
The Department has noted the ComReg Decision D09/23 of 01.11.2023 titled “Framework for the Migration from Legacy Infrastructure to Modern Infrastructure”, which sets out the framework for switch-off of the Eir copper broadband network. Should Eir wish to proceed with switch-off of its copper broadband network, it must adhere to a clearly defined process across multiple phases that have been designed to ensure all end-users have access to a modern comparable service prior to switch-off and are kept fully informed about associated timelines. The Department has also established a working group with ComReg and Eir to keep appraised of any developments in this area and may seek to broaden stakeholder engagement on foot of developments in that working group.
The timing of the switch-off is a commercial matter for Eir subject to it complying with the provisions of ComReg’s decision.
With respect to the percentage of households and businesses still using copper services, the Department notes that ComReg currently maintains such statistics which are published on a quarterly basis on its publicly available website.
Recent ComReg data shows that Quarter 4 of 2023, saw a 7.51% increase in fibre broadband subscriptions compared to Quarter 3, 2023, and a 33.33% increase when compared to Quarter 4 of 2022. This demonstrates that the take-up of fibre connectivity for homes and businesses is increasing greatly as the services are deployed to areas where they had previously been unavailable. The same ComReg data also reports that at the end of Q4 2023, 75% of all premises in Ireland have access to gigabit services.
