Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2015
678. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans for the provision of broadband services to residents in Allenwood in County Kildare and surrounding areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15452/15]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan 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 and enhanced services with approximately 1.6 million of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland expected to have access to commercial high speed broadband services over the next two years. These very significant investments represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.
Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. This map is 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 areas show the target areas for the State intervention.
Based on information provided by commercial operators, 61% of Allenwood Middle and 78% of Allenwood North, Co Kildare will be covered by the commercial sector. The remaining 39% of Allenwood Middle and 22% of Allenwood North Co Kildare will be part of the State intervention. Members of the public should consult the map to establish for themselves the precise location and status of their individual premises.
Intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy for the AMBER area. Following a public consultation process on the draft Intervention Strategy this summer, I hope to move to formal procurement phase towards the end of this year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders.
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 and aims to conclusively address current broadband connectivity issues in mainly rural parts of the country.
