Written Answers Nos. 432-450
432. Deputy Ann Phelan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will outline in detail the exact amount of broadband penetration in the south east and at what speed, in comparison with the rest of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40774/13]
View answerThe Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), has established a website, www.callcosts.ie, which provides information to the public on the broadband services marketed by competing service providers on a county by county basis. ComReg does not publish averages of the available broadband speeds on a county or regional basis. The Economic Social Research Institute (ESRI) published a working paper last year, based on the callcosts data, which compared median broadband speeds marketed by county across Ireland. The report concluded that the number of broadband plans, download speeds and prices were relatively comparable across all counties in Ireland, whilst concluding that there were variations in speed within counties, especially in more rural areas of the country.
The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published last Autumn, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses, including those in the South-East. This will be achieved by providing:
-a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and
-a State-led investment for areas where it is not commercial for the market to invest.
Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and wireless high speed broadband services. In order to progress the State-led investment for areas where it is not commercial for the market to invest, a full procurement process must be designed and EU State Aids approval must be obtained. My Department is engaged in 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 precise 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, are ongoing. The procurement process for the approved intervention will be carried out in accordance with EU and Irish procurement rules and it is expected that it will be launched in 2014. Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, I am committed to ensuring that all parts of Ireland have access to high speed broadband, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and businesses can participate fully in a digitally enabled society.
433. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will discuss the expert advice on offshore oil and gas exploration, development and production and their tax and fiscal terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40797/13]
View answerIn the context of the conclusion on 9 July 2013 of the Dáil debate on the findings of the Report of the former Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, I stated that I intended seeking independent expert advice on the “fitness-for-purpose” of Ireland’s fiscal terms for oil and gas exploration, development and production. On 24 September 2013 my Department issued a request for tenders notice on the etenders.gov.ie website seeking tenders for the provision of such expert advice.
The scope of the assignment set for potential tenderers in the request for tenders is as follows:
“Having regard to the fact that Ireland’s indigenous oil and gas resources belong to the people and to the policy goal of maximising the benefits to the State from exploration for and extraction of those resources, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources seeks expert advice as to:
(i) The “fitness for purpose” of Ireland’s current fiscal regime for oil and gas exploration, development and production having regard to:
-The petroleum prospectivity of the Irish offshore
-Ireland’s relative attractiveness as a location for mobile international exploration investment
-The findings of the May 2012 report of the former Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture, together with the debate of that report by Dáil Éireann
-Other relevant reports
-Comparative international experience
(ii) Supported by analysis, whether revisions should be made to the fiscal licensing regime, in particular having regard to:
-The level at which the terms are set
-The nature of the instruments used
-The tax reliefs available”.
It is anticipated that the successful tenderer will complete its work on this assignment early next year.
434. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, the fixed wireless access technologies he intends to accept in principle as NGA; the nominal maximum service radius that he will attribute to each qualifying FWA technology; the contention rates that will apply; and if these contention rates will be hard set and guaranteed in the future. [40947/13]
View answer435. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, the mobile technologies he intends to accept in principle as NGA technologies; in the case of LTE advanced, the specific elements of the draft 3GPP standard that will be required to qualify; the provisioning requirements that will be required in the case of each mobile technology to qualify as NGA, including the maximum number of residences and businesses to be provisioned by a cell sector and the required amount of spectrum to be available per sector per provider in each of the relevant spectrum bands. [40948/13]
View answer436. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, and regarding mobile technologies that he might include, the requirements he deems necessary to ensure the required quality of service level to users at a fixed locations while serving other nomadic subscribers in the area of interest as required by the state aid guidelines; the nominal data service radius he intends to attribute to each qualifying mobile technology at 800 Mhz, 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz and 2100 Mhz; if he plans to carry out coverage modelling in respect of all qualifying mobile cell sectors; the way he intends to verify that mobile coverage; the way he intends to ensure that qualifying mobile services remain properly provisioned through time. [40949/13]
View answer437. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, the VDSL variants that will be accepted as NGA; if they will qualify in principle or qualify subject to individual line speed test; if the mapping will include tested eligibility or submitted coverage or service areas based on radius; and in the case of eligibility if he will outline the qualifying line test speed that will be accepted as NGA. [40950/13]
View answer438. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan in the case of service radius, the nominal speed that will be be attributed to each VDSL variant at 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 600 m, 700 m, 800 m, 900 m,1000 m, 1100 m and 1200 m; if those are straight line distances or cable lengths; the factor that will be used to convert straight line distance to cable length for the purposes of mapping qualifying VDSL areas; and what is the nominal service radius beyond which each VDSL variant will no longer be accepted as sufficiently fast. [40951/13]
View answer439. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan and in relation to planned VDSL services, if vectoring or bonding are considered as qualifying planned investments and the assumptions that will be used regarding speed uplift to each VDSL variant, at 100 m, 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 600 m, 700 m, 800 m, 900 m,1000 m, 1100 m and 1200 m, due to vectoring and separately due to bonding; and the separate assumptions that have been made for card level and for system level vectoring. [40952/13]
View answer440. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, which fibre to the building and fibre to the kerb technologies will be mapped; and what will be the definition of deployment in relation to these technologies; if in-building or kerb-to-building cabling will count as additional infrastructure and if unlit deployments will qualify for inclusion. [40953/13]
View answer441. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, which fibre to the home technologies will be mapped; if unlit deployments qualify for inclusion; the requirements that will be in place regarding wholesale access in respect of planned FTTH investments and in view of the fact that a single FTTH infrastructure is more likely in rural areas if he will require multi-fibre P2P architectures for eligibility as planned investments as recommended by the State aid guidelines. [40954/13]
View answer442. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, which cable technologies will be mapped; and the requirements that will be put in place in respect of planned investments. [40955/13]
View answer443. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access and basic broadband maps being prepared for the national broadband plan, which mapping application software is being used; the radio wave propagation software that is being used; the source reference of the elevation data being used; if the elevation data includes structures and vegetation; and if providers who do not supply coverage data will have their service areas estimated or excluded from the map. [40956/13]
View answer444. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, the action he will take in respect of credible information from a member of the public regarding the non-availability or not-spot of an indicated current service at a specific location and if he intends to register, retain and publish such information from the public. [40957/13]
View answer445. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, if he intends to carry out field tests to verify the map; the methodology that will be employed in carrying out field tests; and if there are other means he intends to employ to verify the map. [40958/13]
View answer446. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan and in relation to the plausibility test for planned investments required by the EU state aid guidelines, the business case plausibility criteria that will be used to evaluate planned investments; the financial data that will be required from providers to provide assurance that the investments will in fact materialise; if a financial bond will be required to provide further assurance in that regard; and the way that bond would be calculated. [40959/13]
View answer447. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan, if he will confirm that 19 July 2013 is the final date for completion of planned investments to qualify for inclusion on the map; and the percentage of area of the planned investment that must be completed by 19 July 2013. [40960/13]
View answer448. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the next generation access map being prepared for the national broadband plan and in relation to the finalised intervention areas, if a grid, similar to the electoral division grid used in the national broadband scheme, will be used to delineate the boundaries of the identified intervention area; the type of grid to be used in the NBP such as ED, CSO small areas square blocks; the block size in the case of a block grid; and the percentage area of NGA cover in a grid element below which will trigger inclusion of that element in the intervention. [40961/13]
View answer449. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources regarding the national broadband plan, if the NBP contractor will be contractually and financially enabled to step in to extend intervention coverage where planned private investments identified in the mapping exercise fail to materialise or are below the forecast quality in terms of performance or provisioning or are behind schedule; if similar remedies will be undertaken in the case of those excluded because of the vagaries of the grid system employed, or because of mapping errors; if a contingency fund will be available for this purpose; if he will require progress reviews of planned investments; and the intervals at which they will be carried out. [40962/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 434 to 449, inclusive, together.
The objective of the national mapping exercise under the National Broadband Plan is to identify and map current and planned broadband services, both Basic and Next Generation Access (NGA). The process for participating in the mapping exercise has been published on my Department’s website (www.dcenr.ie/nbpmapping) and notified to all undertakings authorised by ComReg. Information has been sought from participating operators in respect of current coverage as well as investments planned up to July 2016 and beyond, where appropriate.
Mapping data has been submitted to my Department by a total of 23 operators and the process of analysing the data and supporting information is now underway. The mapping data will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, having regard to the EU State Aid Guidelines. If a provider does not submit coverage data it will not be possible to estimate coverage for that operator. No decision has yet been taken as to the format of the finalised map in terms of boundary areas or otherwise, nor has any decision been taken with respect to field testing.
Work on the fine detail of classifying the criteria for current and planned Basic and NGA coverage for each of the different technology platforms is on-going in my Department. Accordingly, it is not possible at this stage to address many of the detailed questions raised by the Deputy.
It is my intention to publish the map showing existing and planned Basic and NGA broadband coverage early next year, including details of the criteria used, along with the Government’s proposals for a State-led intervention to roll out high speed broadband across the country. This process will enable account to be taken of any new information regarding operators’ plans and will also enable account to be taken of any response from members of the public.
The mapping software currently being used for the purpose of reviewing data submitted by the participating operators is ArcGIS Desktop. As the project is at an early stage, the full range of software has not been selected. Questions regarding the obligations that might be placed on any contractor who might be appointed in connection with the National Broadband Plan are premature as the detailed scope of the intervention has not yet been decided.
450. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if, with regard to the growing number of wind farms and proposed wind farms throughout the country, he or his officials have had detailed discussions in relation to the possible consequences of such developments with the Department of Health, in relation to the possible impact on public health; with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the possible impact on the bloodstock industry; or with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on any possible impact on the tourism industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41002/13]
View answerWind farm development in Ireland is subject to the Planning Acts, including the requirements for public consultation. In order to ensure that Ireland continues to meet its renewable energy targets, while at the same time ensuring that wind energy does not have negative impacts on local communities, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, in conjunction with my own Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, is undertaking a targeted review of certain aspects of the existing Wind Energy Planning Guidelines examining the manner in which the Guidelines address key issues such as noise (including separation distance) and shadow flicker. It is expected that revised guidelines will be published for consultation in quarter 1 2014 with a view to the finalisation of the new guidelines by mid-2014. This will apply to all wind farm development in Ireland.
Ireland's ability to meet its 2020 targets provides d an opportunity to enter into co-operation mechanisms with other EU Member States to contribute to their targets in return for economic benefit. In this context, I announced in July that I am putting in place a clear national planning policy context for renewable energy export which will guide An Bord Pleanála when considering any proposals of a significant scale for wind energy export. Any proposed large-scale wind farms intending to export must await the putting in place of this Renewable Energy Export Policy and Development framework which will be underpinned by a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Appropriate Assessment (AA). The framework will be prepared over the coming year and will provide an opportunity for all stakeholders including local authorities, potential project developers and local communities to be consulted and have an input into the national policy for wind export. The process will provide an opportunity to integrate the relevant EU Directive requirements (i.e. the SEA and the AA) in the context of developing the new national framework. The initial phase of public and stakeholder consultation regarding the framework will begin in the next few weeks.
The planning process will take account of any visual disamenity, including any potential impact on areas of public and tourist amenity and will account for aspects such as shadow flicker and noise which would address a number of the areas raised by the Deputy.
