Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 October 2012
390. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the way the new national broadband plan will be delivered in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44439/12]
View answerThe Government’s recently-published National Broadband Plan aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed services of at least 30Mbps are available to all of our citizens and businesses well in advance of the EU’s target date of 2020, and that significantly higher speeds are available to as many homes and businesses as possible.
The Plan commits to high speed broadband availability across the country – specifically:
70Mbps – 100Mbps will be available from the commercial market operators to more than half of the population by 2015;
At least 40Mbps, and in many cases faster speeds, to at least a further 20% (and potentially as much as 35%) of the population during the lifetime of the Government; and
A minimum of 30Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country, also during the lifetime of the Government.
During the preparation of the National Broadband Plan, the commercial market operators indicated that they expect to provide 70Mbps to 100Mbps services to 50% of the population by 2015. The precise areas to be provided with those services will be determined by the commercial market operators.
One of the first steps in delivering on the 30Mbps and 40Mbps commitments will be the completion of a formal national mapping exercise to determine the exact position in relation to commercial service providers’ existing and planned broadband services throughout the country, including in County Meath. Preparatory work has commenced within my Department to expedite this task.
The mapping exercise will identify the areas of the country where there is market failure in the provision of high speed broadband services. It will also identify where the market is expected to succeed in the delivery of high speed broadband over the coming years. This process is expected to take several months to complete and until then the precise areas of the country which will require State intervention will not be known. Rollout will be targeted to commence in 2014, when the mapping, State Aids and procurement processes are complete and when the current contract for the National Broadband Scheme expires.
I would reiterate that the Government remains committed to the delivery of the speeds referred to above, to ensure that all parts of Ireland, including County Meath, have access to modern high speed broadband services.
