Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 July 2013
714. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans for the type of broadband required for the Ballinhassig and Ballygarvan areas, County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34649/13]
View answer715. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans for the type of broadband required for the Cooley area, County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34650/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 714 and 715 together.
Considerable progress has been made in recent years in both the coverage and speeds of national broadband infrastructure, with a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband services available in each County, including counties Cork and Louth, can be found on ComReg’s website at www.callcosts.ie.
The Government has also undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband to those parts of the country where commercial operators have been unable to offer services. The combination of private investment and State interventions such as the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) and the Rural Broadband Scheme means that Ireland has met the EU Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013.
With basic broadband services widely available across Ireland, the focus is now on accelerating the roll out of high speed services. The 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 broadband is available to all of our citizens and businesses, in advance of the EU’s target date of 2020.
Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and mobile high speed broadband services. In tandem with these commercial developments, intensive work is under way in my Department to progress a State-led investment to secure the countrywide introduction of next generation broadband access. The National Broadband Plan commits the Government to investing with the private sector to deliver high speed services to areas which are not commercially viable and will not be provided by the market alone.
In order to progress the State-led investment, a full procurement process must be designed and EU State Aids approval must be obtained. My officials have commenced a comprehensive mapping exercise of the current and anticipated investment by the commercial sector to identify where the market is expected to deliver high speed broadband services over the coming years.
The results of this mapping exercise will inform the level of Government intervention that may be required and the areas that need to be targeted in the State-led investment as envisaged in the National Broadband Plan.
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.
Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, we are committed to increasing the availability of next generation speeds significantly, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and businesses can participate fully in a digitally enabled society.
