Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 December 2013
354. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the measures undertaken by his Department in relation to improving fibre connections as a percentage of broadband access network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53943/13]
View answerIreland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The State can only intervene to ensure access to broadband services in areas where the competitive market fails to deliver such services, as in the case of the fibre Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) initiative. The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August 2012, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses. 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 and in some instances have been accelerated in both fixed line and wireless high speed broadband services. In the fixed line segment of the market, eircom has announced plans to pass 1.4m premises with its next generation broadband service, with speeds of up to 100Mbps, while UPC has increased its entry level and maximum speeds to 120Mbps and 200Mbps respectively. Both of these product offerings are critically supported by fibre in the network. Mobile operators have also made announcements regarding network upgrades and are rolling out enhanced product offerings. These developments have been facilitated through the implementation of measures in the National Broadband Plan, including the conclusion of ComReg's multiband spectrum auction, and the new regulatory regime for fixed line Next Generation Access and service bundles. Both of these measures are designed to incentivise the rollout of services by operators.
In tandem with these developments, intensive work is underway in my Department to progress a State-led investment to secure the countrywide introduction of next generation broadband access. My Department is engaged in a comprehensive mapping exercise of the current and anticipated investment by the commercial sector over the coming years, the results of which will inform the areas that need to be targeted in the State-led investment as envisaged in the National Broadband Plan.
In designing the procurement process for the intervention, my Department will be required to comply with the EU State aid rules in relation to the technology to be rolled out. The European Commission's guidelines set out that as different technological solutions exist to provide broadband services, the tender should not favour or exclude any particular technology or network platform. The guidelines emphasise the role of fibre is assisting the delivery of high speed broadband through various platforms.
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, and maximise the benefits of, a digitally enabled economy and society.
