Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 March 2012
318 Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the reason an area (details supplied) in County Mayo is not included in the national broadband scheme; if there are plans to include this location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12172/12]
View answerIreland's telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999 and thus the delivery of broadband services is a matter, in the first instance, for private sector commercial operators. Details of broadband services available in each county can be found on ComReg website at www.callcosts.ie.
In cases of market failure the Government will intervene, where it is appropriate and possible to do so. The National Broadband Scheme (NBS) represents such an intervention. It aimed to bring an affordable, scalable broadband service to certain designated electoral divisions where the extent of broadband coverage by commercial operators, at the time the Scheme was launched in 2008, was deemed to be insufficient. Prior to the commencement of the NBS, a detailed mapping exercise was carried out to determine those areas that would be included in the scheme and those which, by virtue of being already substantially served by existing broadband suppliers, could not be included.
EU State aid and competition rules govern how states can intervene in areas where existing service providers operate. Accordingly, the NBS is restricted to providing a basic service and is prohibited from providing a service in areas where to do so would give rise to an unacceptable level of market distortion. That mapping exercise found that the general area of Aughadiffin, Kilkelly, County Mayo was served by existing service providers and consequently it was excluded from the Scheme.
The Rural Broadband Scheme (RBS) was launched last year in recognition of the fact that despite the widespread availability of broadband throughout Ireland, there still remained individual premises that were unable to receive broadband provision, due to technical difficulties such as line of sight issues. This Scheme, which is being rolled out this year, is aimed at making a basic broadband service available to those individual un-served premises in rural non-NBS areas that wish to avail of such services. In total, 210 applications were received in respect of premises in County Mayo, with 3 applications from the Kilkelly area.
The combination of private investment and State interventions means that Ireland will meet the EU Commission's "Digital Agenda for Europe" target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013.
The Government accepts that the widespread availability of high speed broadband is a key requirement in delivering future economic and social development. The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce which I convened last summer has an important role to play in this regard. It comprises the CEOs of all of the major telecommunications companies operating in the Irish market, as well as CEOs of some other companies that provide broadband services. The purpose of the Taskforce is to discuss and report on policy issues and proposals in relation to the provision of high speed broadband across Ireland. I expect that the Taskforce will help to identify how best to deliver wider customer access to high-speed broadband generally and thereby assist in delivering on the commitment in the Programme for Government.
The Taskforce will conclude its deliberations shortly. It is my intention to consider the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report of the Taskforce and to move quickly thereafter to put in place the optimal policy environment for the delivery of high speed broadband.
