Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 January 2014
464. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide an update on the national broadband scheme; the timeline as to when broadband will be available in rural areas in County Tipperary (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3795/14]
View answer465. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide an update on the national broadband scheme; when broadband will be available in rural areas (details supplied) in County Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3810/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 464 and 465 together.
Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband services available in the Irish market can be found on ComReg’s website at www.callcosts.ie.
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 National Broadband Scheme (NBS). My Department entered into a contract in late 2008 with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (“3”) for the delivery of the NBS to certain designated Electoral Divisions, including the area of Borrisokane referred to by the Deputy. The broadband service contracted under NBS is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme in September 2007.
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, including those in County Tipperary. 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. Mobile operators have also made announcements regarding network upgrades and are rolling out enhanced product offerings. Last week, I introduced legislation in the Dáil, to allow the ESB to utilise its electricity network to install a new high speed broadband communications network.
I am aware of at least one service provider announcing that it will be providing advanced broadband services in Borrisokane and Holycross in County Tipperary before July 2016 and my Department will be happy to discuss this further with the Deputy. 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. 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 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.
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.
