Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 January 2014
140. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will investigate the poor quality of service and inadequate signal by the national broadband service provider company "3" in pockets of County Kerry (details supplied), especially in the area of Glenflesk, Killarney, Co. Kerry, which needs to be urgently addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3254/14]
View answerThe broadband service contracted under the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme in September 2007. Under the terms of the contract which my Department has in place with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (trading as "3"), the NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum download and upload speeds of 2.3Mbps and 1.4Mbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 18:1. The NBS satellite service, which is utilised in a small number of cases for technical reasons associated with the location of the premises, offers minimum download and upload speeds of 3.6Mbps and 384 kbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 48:1.
My Department has well-established monitoring arrangements in place to ensure that the NBS delivers the minimum specified service or better to all users. Throughout the contract period, network utilisation and performance data is submitted by "3" to my Department on a monthly basis. The NBS contract guarantees service levels and imposes a service credit regime on "3", with significant financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. The NBS contract also provides that where NBS customers do not receive the minimum guaranteed service, as set out in the terms and conditions of their contract, they are entitled to service rebates.
Should any NBS customer experience problems with the NBS service, they are advised to contact 3's customer care centre, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, by phone at 1913 (free of charge), via email to nbssupport@three.ie or by post to 3 Customer Services, Hutchison 3G Ireland Limited, PO Box 333, Dublin 2. My Department has a role where customers have fully utilised the established complaints process and consider that their complaint has not been resolved. My officials operate a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at nationalbroadbandscheme@dcenr.gov.ie, with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service. My Department will then liaise with "3" personnel at its Head Office in Dublin to remedy any service performance issues.
The NBS customer referred to in the Question has not been in contact with my officials. However, I understand from "3" that the customer contacted its customer care centre regarding service performance issues earlier this month. "3" have informed my officials that, following a review of the customer's service, arrangements are being made for a site visit by its engineering staff to his premises to conduct an investigation into the reported issues. My Department liaises very closely with "3" to ensure that any issues relating to service performance, which are brought to its attention, are addressed as quickly as possible. While my Department has previously dealt with a small number of individual complaints from NBS customers in County Kerry, there is no evidence to suggest widespread poor quality performance in the area.
