Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2015
588. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if public consultation will take place to provide information and an opportunity for feedback on the proposals under the national broadband plan; and the estimated timeframe of the implementation of the measures. [2730/15]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The proposed State intervention under the National Broadband Plan aims to conclusively address Ireland's connectivity challenges, delivering high quality broadband to those parts of rural Ireland that would not otherwise be served by the commercial sector, and ensuring that any network that is built is capable of scaling up to meet both current and future demand. This is a complex intervention that will determine the quality, choice and cost of services in rural areas not just in the next five years, but also for decades to come. Over 700,000 premises are currently in the proposed intervention area and these premises cover 100,000 km of road network.
Detailed public consultation is a key feature of the proposed intervention strategy under the National Broadband Plan. In June 2014, my Department launched a Call for Inputs in relation to technical and other aspects of the proposed strategy. This in turn provided critical information that informed the development of the national high speed broadband map which I published in November.
The publication of the national high-speed broadband map represented a major milestone on the project. The detailed map (which can be viewed on both a national and county level) is publicly available and there is an ongoing facility for stakeholders and members of the public to comment or make submissions. The BLUE areas on the map are based on information provided by commercial network operators. They show where commercial operators have committed to providing high speed services by end 2016. Members of the public can review their area or house on the map and provide feedback, particularly if they have information to suggest they will not have commercial high speed broadband by 2016 for whatever reason particular to their home or business.
In tandem with the publication of the map I also published a detailed consultation paper on the mapping process and this remains open to industry and the public to comment on until the 12th February. Submissions made in respect of this paper will feed in to the on-going work on developing a comprehensive intervention strategy which is scheduled to be completed this summer.
Once approved by Government, the intervention strategy will also be published and will be the subject of further public consultation prior to being finalised. I hope to be then able to move to the formal procurement stage towards the end of this year. The selection criteria that will be used to select the preferred bidder/s will include an assessment of the efficiency and speed of delivery. I am keen to see the implementation begin as quickly as possible and completed at the earliest opportunity. I anticipate that the first homes and businesses will be connected in 2016 and connections will continue thereafter, with the intention of having the final homes and businesses connected within a 5 year period.
Given the scale and importance of the intervention, extensive public consultation is necessary and appropriate. Members of the public and stakeholders can contribute to the latest consultation which is available on the Department's mapping site www.broadband.gov.ie.
