Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 April 2013
98. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress made to date with the national broadband plan launched in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20222/13]
View answerThe Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August last, 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.
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. I welcome the progress by the commercial sector since the publication of the Plan and note that investments in high speed services are progressing apace particularly in urban and semi-urban areas.
The Government is also committed in the Plan to investing in areas where high speed services are not commercially viable and will not be provided by the market. In an important milestone towards delivery of this commitment in the Plan, my Department will appoint, in the next few days, a team of experts to assist it in the design, planning and procurement of the State-led investment. Intensive technical, financial and legal preparations including stakeholder engagement will be ongoing throughout 2013 with a view to the launch of a procurement process in 2014.
Progress is also being made on the additional actions in the Plan concerning demand stimulation, spectrum policy, the removal of barriers to infrastructure rollout and maximising the use of State assets. Implementation of the Plan is being overseen by a High Level Group, which is chaired by my Department and comprises representatives from Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, OPW, NewERA, ComReg and Forfás.
