Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 April 2016
501. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which initiatives are planned to address deficiencies in the telecommunications sector with a view to ensuring that all segments of the sector are up to international standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7738/16]
View answer502. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which he expects broadband quality and service to improve on an annual basis over the next four years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7739/16]
View answer503. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which improvements in quality and speed of broadband is envisaged over the next two years with particular reference to County Kildare and the need to meet the requirements of customers therein as a matter of urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7740/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 501 to 503, inclusive, together.
The Government’s 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 is being 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 has invested over €2 billion in network upgrades and enhanced services in the last four years, and is continuing to invest. These very significant investments represent a step change in the quality of broadband services available.
On 22 December 2015, I formally launched the procurement process for the State intervention to provide high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland that may not be served through commercial investment. The formal procurement process commenced with the publication of the Pre-qualification Questionnaire and Project Information Memorandum. Five responses were received from prospective bidders to this stage of the competitive procurement process by the deadline of 31 March. The responses are now being assessed in line with criteria set down by the Department with a view to selecting qualified provider(s) to proceed to the next stage of the procurement. This second stage in the process will be a formal Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) to shortlisted bidders.
The 2020 Map is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The map shows Ireland with two colours, BLUE and AMBER. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. The areas marked AMBER represent the target areas for the proposed State intervention. Members of the public can view whether their premises is in the BLUE or AMBER area by accessing the High Speed Broadband Map and entering their Eircode.
The Intervention Strategy sets out a detailed service specification including a requirement that the State-funded network must be capable of delivering high-quality, high speed broadband of at least 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. It must also be capable of catering for higher performance in the future so as to keep pace with consumer demand.
The intention is to build out the network in the AMBER area as quickly as possible. The Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) on the optimum rollout strategy, and on the sequencing of the network deployment to maximise efficiencies during network build, having regard to business and consumer needs, and to areas of particularly poor service and areas of strong demand. All these factors will need to be balanced against the most efficient network rollout and will be agreed during the procurement process.
Engagement with industry stakeholders as part of the pre-procurement consultations has indicated that the rollout in the Amber area could be achieved within 3-5 years of the contract award. In this context, the NBP proposes that through the combination of commercial investment and State intervention, 85% of all premises in Ireland (both commercial and intervention area) will have access to high speed broadband within two years of the contract award, with 100% of premises connected within 5 years.
The Department will have a robust governance procedure in place which ensures that the winning bidder(s) deliver their obligations under the contract to the required standards and within the required timeframes. In addition, the Department continues to monitor the rollout of network deployment plans in the commercial areas to ensure that services are delivered in line with commitments made by operators.
I am confident that through the combination of existing commercial investment and the State intervention, that all our citizens will have the same, if not better, access to high speed broadband services available internationally.
In the mobile telephony market, market operators are currently investing in the rollout of 4G networks. These are providing a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities over previous 3G and 2G technologies. These 4G networks use the same technology as the most modern mobile networks providing public access internationally.
