National Broadband Plan Implementation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2015

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Questions (901, 902, 903, 904)

Michael Moynihan

Question:

901. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the target outlined in his Department’s 2012 document, Delivering a Connected Society - A National Broadband Plan for Ireland, of providing high-speed broadband across the country during the lifetime of this Government has been achieved; if not, when will it be achieved; the current level of availability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28835/15]

Michael Moynihan

Question:

902. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the target outlined in his Department’s 2012 document, Delivering a Connected Society - A National Broadband Plan for Ireland, to provide 70 Mbps to 100 Mbps broadband speed to more than half of the population by 2015 has been reached; if not, when will this target be reached; the current estimated percentage of the population that can access such speeds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28836/15]

Michael Moynihan

Question:

903. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the targets outlined in his Department’s 2012 document, Delivering a Connected Society - A National Broadband Plan for Ireland, to provide at least 40 Mbps broadband speed to at least a further 20% of the population, and potentially to as much as 35% around smaller towns and villages, have been achieved; if not, when will these targets be achieved; the current estimated percentage of the population that can access such speeds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28837/15]

Michael Moynihan

Question:

904. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the target outlined in his Department’s 2012 document, Delivering a Connected Society - A National Broadband Plan for Ireland, to provide a minimum of 30 Mbps broadband speed to every remaining home and business has been achieved; if not, when will this target be achieved; the current estimated percentage of the population that can access such speeds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28838/15]

Written answers

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

I propose to take Questions Nos. 901 to 904, inclusive, together.

When the National Broadband Plan was first published in 2012, it envisaged that the commercial sector would provide high speed fixed line services to 50% of the population, amounting to 1.3m of Ireland’s 2.3m addresses by 2015. Mobile operators envisaged that they would provide 4G coverage to up to 70% of the population by 2018.

Since 2012 a number of critical developments have led Government to scale up its ambition:

- EU State Aid Guidelines published in December 2012 pointed to the need for Governments to demonstrate a “step change” in any intervention, with fibre “as close as possible” to end users;

- ComReg’s multiband spectrum auction in December 2012 released valuable new spectrum, allowing mobile operators to step-up investment programmes;

- Industry has accelerated its investment in networks and services. As a consequence, the addressable area for the State has reduced by almost 50% (from 1.3m to 750,000);

- The commercial developments will deliver on almost all of the combined industry and Government commitments made in 2012;

- Consumer demand for bandwidth has greatly increased and significant investments in urban areas are exacerbating the urban-rural divide;

- Evidence from previous Government interventions and internationally points to the need to invest in a network that is capable of scaling to meet current and future needs.

As a consequence of these developments, in April 2014, the Government agreed to a more ambitious programme of intervention for the remaining areas that will not be served by commercial operators.

The Deputy will by now be familiar with the high-speed broadband coverage map which I published last year and which shows clearly those parts of the country that will be covered by commercial investment and those that will require intervention by the State to ensure connectivity.

The draft Intervention Strategy will be published for public consultation later this week. Following the consultation process over the 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 expect the physical build of the network to begin in late 2016, and it will take 3-5 years to fully complete – depending on the details of the bid or bids selected.

This complex national infrastructure project will definitively address the long-standing challenge of deploying a resilient and high quality broadband network in rural parts of Ireland.