Skip to main content
Normal View

Telecommunications Services.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 February 2005

Tuesday, 8 February 2005

Questions (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

96 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources when all of the State will be broadband enabled; the reason Northern Ireland has attained broadband enablement well before the Republic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3601/05]

View answer

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

120 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the reason for the slow progress in regard to the provision of broadband facilities nationwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3616/05]

View answer

Bernard Allen

Question:

137 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his targets and objectives in regard to the availability of broadband services countrywide by the end of 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3690/05]

View answer

Joe Sherlock

Question:

150 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on recent reports on the broadband deficit from Forfás and the Information Society Commission and on the high cost of broadband; and if he will report on the take-up of broadband by households and businesses for the three months up to the end of January 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3600/05]

View answer

Denis Naughten

Question:

162 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his preferred options for the provision of broadband services countrywide, whether by way of cable, wireless, satellite or combination thereof; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3615/05]

View answer

John Gormley

Question:

164 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the number of metropolitan area network fibre-optic rings that have now been constructed and opened; and the details on the level of activity on each of these networks to date. [3682/05]

View answer

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

289 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his preferred options for the provision of broadband services countrywide, whether by way of cable, wireless, satellite or combination thereof; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3952/05]

View answer

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

290 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the reason for the slow progress in regard to the provision of broadband facilities nationwide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3953/05]

View answer

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

301 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his targets and objectives in regard to the availability of broadband services countrywide by the end of 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3965/05]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 96, 120, 137, 150, 162, 164, 289, 290 and 301 together.

The provision of broadband facilities is a matter in the first instance for the private sector companies operating in a fully liberalised market. A number of factors determine whether broadband is offered in any area, including the level of investment required by the service provider, the likely number of customers for the service and so on.

My Department's regional broadband programme is addressing the infrastructure deficit, in cooperation with the local and regional authorities. Under that programme high speed open access broadband networks that will be used by the private sector companies to offer services at competitive prices will be built in almost 120 towns and cities with a population of over 1,500. To complement that my Department also administers a group and county broadband scheme for areas of lower population. Nineteen metropolitan area networks, MANs, have now been completed and a further seven are at construction phase. Commercial traffic is already being carried on some of the completed MANs. The MANs are being independently managed on an open access basis by E-Net, which was awarded the management contract in mid-2004.

In the second phase of the programme, MANs will be built in a further 35 towns of 1,500 population and over, in association with the local authorities. To date, 29 group broadband scheme projects, involving an aggregated public funding of almost €500,000, have been approved by me. Recent figures from ComReg indicate that there are now more than 125,000 broadband customers and the figure is increasing by over 30% per quarter. Broadband prices have become more competitive. There are now more than 130 companies listed on the ComReg website as offering internet access and this must be taken as an indication of the growing level of interest in broadband and the growing level of competition in the market. The bulk of the increase in broadband growth is confined to a limited number of companies.

As a result of rapid developments in broadband technology in recent years it is now possible to obtain broadband connectivity almost anywhere using the most appropriate technology for the location, such as wireless, cable, satellite, leased lines and DSL. Although more than 84% of Irish broadband customers use DSL, not every telephone line is suitable for this technology and in such cases another technology must be considered. My Department supports multiple technology solutions and choice in carrier and technology. There are 1.4 million speed line telecommunication consumers in Ireland. We estimate that there are in excess of 125,000 true broadband consumers, almost 9% market penetration. This is up from around 1,000 in March 2003.

The incontrovertible facts are that we are the lowest cost country in the OECD for international broadband; our regional broadband pricing is now on a par with the best in Europe, after Government intervention, and the price of the basic broadband package is at the EU average. Ireland is also the fastest growing broadband economy in the EU. The proof of our quality and cost of broadband is in the continued inward investment here of companies like Google, Overture, Amazon and so forth.

There are 45 different broadband offerings across a variety of technologies. In essence, there are broadband technologies to reach any broadband consumer in Ireland right now. Our group broadband scheme —€25 million — is specifically targeting small and rural communities. I believe the industry target should be 500,000 real broadband consumers by the end of 2006. That represents more than one third of the telecommunications market. Internet penetration will continue to grow because broadband is not the only means of accessing the Internet.

The Government target is to be in the top 10% of OECD countries by the end of 2007. That means a market penetration rate of in the region of 14%. That target is within early reach.

The Government is as interested in broadband quality as broadband quantity. That is why it is funding high speed fibre optic networks in 120 towns and cities. No country in Europe is rolling out advance broadband infrastructure at this rate. The Government has also put a PPP, E-Net, in place to manage these ultra high speed, open access networks. These networks are capable of delivering broadband speeds of 20,000 to 100,000 times faster than some current market offerings. They are an investment in the future of broadband and the Government has committed €170 million to their construction. These networks do not duplicate existing infrastructure. They are fibre-optic networks and most existing networks are copper wire. We are also rolling broadband out to all schools in the country by the end of 2005. This involves 4,200 schools and 4,200 communities.

The role of Government is to create the right regulatory environment for operators in the private sector to flourish. The second role of Government is to provide high speed open access infrastructure investment in parts of the country where the market is unlikely to make that investment. That is the rationale behind the metropolitan area network programme. The metropolitan area network programme is building advanced fibre-optic networks and linking the key business districts in about 120 towns throughout the country. These networks are the telecommunications equivalent of ring roads and should provide broadband infrastructural security in these towns and cities long into the next score years. Nobody else in the market is, or was, investing in this kind of long-term infrastructure. These networks will double the stock of high speed fibre optic cable in the country by the end of 2007.

Top
Share