Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 October 2007
540 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to Clonmellon, County Westmeath; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22692/07]
View answer541 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to Summerhill, County Meath; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22693/07]
View answer542 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to Kilmessan, County Meath; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22694/07]
View answer543 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to Kildalkey, County Meath; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22695/07]
View answer544 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to Longwood, County Meath; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22696/07]
View answer545 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to rural areas of the Meath west constituency; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22697/07]
View answer546 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has satisfied himself with the availability of fixed line broadband services in rural areas of Meath west; his views on whether local business investment is being hindered by the lack of this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22698/07]
View answer547 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason for the delay in the roll-out of fixed line broadband services to Robinstown, County Meath; the plans his Department has to provide this service in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22699/07]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 540 to 547, inclusive, together.
The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter for the private sector. Broadband service providers operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated, where appropriate, by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg.
The role of the Government is to formulate regulatory and infrastructure policies to facilitate the provision of high quality telecommunications services, by competing private sector service providers.
The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that regard my Department has undertaken initiatives to address the gaps in broadband coverage. These include providing grant-aid under the recently concluded Group Broadband Scheme and investment in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs).
Despite these Government initiatives there are still some parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband services. Accordingly, the procurement process for a National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is under way. The NBS will provide broadband services to areas that are currently unserved and will ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband in unserved areas are met.
The first phase of the procurement process, the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) phase, is now complete and four candidates have pre-qualified. As my Department indicated on 2 September 2007, the four candidates are, in alphabetical order, BT Communications Ireland Ltd Consortium, Eircom Ltd, Hutchinson 3G Ireland Ltd and IFA/Motorola Consortium. The next phase of the procurement process involves inviting candidates to participate in a competitive dialogue process. My Department is anticipating that the award of the NBS contract will be Quarter 2 of 2008, with roll-out of the services due to begin as soon as possible thereafter. This timeline is subject to negotiations with candidates during the competitive dialogue phase of the procurement process.
548 Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his Department has plans to allow fixed line broadband providers to access the States recently laid line that runs from the N3 at Castlemartin, County Meath to the NRA offices Phoenixtown in order to provide a residential broadband service in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22703/07]
View answerI understand that the infrastructure to which the Deputy refers is privately owned and is not part of any Government owned Metropolitan Area Network. Accordingly, it is a matter for the relevant service provider to determine whether it wishes to provide services to residential customers.
549 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when provision can or will be made for Broadband in the Derrinturn and Carbury areas of County Kildare; the reason for the delay in providing this much needed service to these local residents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22761/07]
View answerThe provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter for the private sector. Broadband service providers operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated, where appropriate, by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg.
The role of the Government is to formulate regulatory and infrastructure policies to facilitate the provision of high quality telecommunications services, by competing private sector service providers.
The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that regard my Department has undertaken initiatives to address the gaps in broadband coverage. These include providing grant-aid under the recently concluded Group Broadband Scheme and investment in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs).
Despite these Government initiatives there are still some parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband services. Accordingly, the procurement process for a National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is underway. The NBS will provide broadband services to areas that are currently unserved and will ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband in unserved areas are met.
The first phase of the procurement process (the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) phase) is now complete and four candidates have pre-qualified. As my Department indicated on 2 September 2007, the four candidates are, in alphabetical order, BT Communications Ireland Ltd Consortium, Eircom Ltd, Hutchinson 3G Ireland Ltd and IFA/Motorola Consortium. The next phase of the procurement process involves inviting candidates to participate in a competitive dialogue process. My Department is anticipating that the award of the NBS contract will be Quarter 2 of 2008, with roll-out of the services due to begin as soon as possible thereafter. This timeline is subject to negotiations with candidates during the competitive dialogue phase of the procurement process.
