Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 February 2015
183. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the funding options that were explored during the 12 January 2015 round table meeting between members of his Department's team and the European Union Telecommunications Commissioner, Mr Gunther Oettinger, in relation to the rolling out of the high-speed broadband network here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8424/15]
View answer184. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if a consistent and reliable access to high-speed broadband will be rolled out to remote premises and islands in the north west of the country; if a list of remote premises under consideration for the roll out is available, which indicates the Government's intention to include remote communities in the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8425/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 184 together.
The 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 commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades. Approximately 1.6 million of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland are expected to have access to commercial high speed broadband services within the next two years.
A public consultation on a national high speed coverage map 2016 which was launched last November, closed on the 12th February. 27 submissions have been received to date and will be assessed over the coming weeks in terms of the overall intervention strategy. The map continues to be available at www.broadband.gov.ie . The areas marked BLUE represent those areas that will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016. The AMBER area shows the target areas for the State intervention.
The map allows all members of the public, be they business or residential, to see whether their premises or home will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention. It also provides detailed information on over 50,000 townlands throughout the entire country and includes islands in the north west of the country. All individual premises can be viewed on the map. These very significant investments represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.
It is anticipated that speeds of at least 30Mbps will be also delivered through the Government's intervention and the network will be designed to cater for future increased demand from consumers and business.
In tandem with the mapping consultation, intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy. The strategy will address a range of issues in relation to the intervention including the optimum procurement model, ownership model for the infrastructure and likely market impact.
On 12th January, the Department attended a roundtable meeting in Brussels hosted by EU Telecommunications Commissioner, Günther Oettinger. The aim of the meeting was to understand the challenges faced by Member States in ensuring high speed broadband availability to all citizens and to inform the development of the "Juncker Plan" funding package which aims to accelerate investment in broadband and other economic infrastructure. Arising from the roundtable, the Department had a further meeting with Commission officials and also met with the European Investment Bank to consider funding options. Discussions on the most appropriate funding model are continuing as the Department moves to finalise a draft intervention strategy.
Following a public consultation process on the draft Intervention Strategy during next summer, I hope to move to formal procurement phase towards the end of this year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders. The Department will design a tender in a way that maximises efficiencies and keeps the cost of the network build as low as possible. I anticipate that the first homes and businesses will be connected in 2016 and connections will continue thereafter, with the intention of having all premises connected within a 5 year period.
This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government. It aims to conclusively address current connectivity challenges in Ireland.
