Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 July 2016
736. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the national broadband plan with reference to the Newcastle West area of County Limerick and with particular reference to Beechwood Avenue, Newcastle West, County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20869/16]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through private investment by commercial telecommunications companies and through a State intervention in areas where commercial investment is not forthcoming. The formal procurement process for the State Intervention commenced in December 2015.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the extent of the State Intervention area, which is the subject of procurement. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have previously indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention.
The map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county. Members of the public can check whether their premises in Co. Limerick are in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode. The Department also has a dedicated mailbox and anyone with a query in relation to the Map should email the Department, quoting their Eircode to
broadband@dcenr.gov.ie.
Based on information provided by commercial operators, Beechwood Ave in the townland of Rathnaneane will be covered by commercial operators.
While I cannot compel any operator to provide services to a particular premise, the NBP Intervention aims to deliver a State-funded service to those premises which will not be provided with services from the commercial telecoms sector. In this context, my Department continues to actively monitor the deployment plans in the BLUE area where commercial operators are delivering or have previously committed to providing services.
Currently, over 750,000 premises are the focus for the procurement process, which formally commenced in December 2015 with the publication of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire ('PQQ') and Project Information Memorandum. On 5 July, I announced that my Department has also identified a further 170,000 premises which are currently marked BLUE on the High Speed Broadband Map and which are unlikely to get access to services. The intention is to undertake further analysis on these additional premises with a view to including them in the formal procurement process.
I also announced that the Department has now moved to the next stage in the procurement process. In this Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) phase, three qualifying bidders have been invited to meet with the Department to commence the formal dialogue process. The qualifying bidders will shortly be furnished with a draft contract, with detailed specifications for a quality and affordable high speed broadband network.
Following the ITPD stage, which will take a number of months, the Department will issue final tender documentation to bidders. When final tenders have been submitted a winning bidder(s) will be selected for the contract which will comprise one or two lots as set out in the NBP Intervention Strategy. The Department will then enter into formal contract negotiations with the winning bidder(s), prior to awarding a contract(s).
As part of the competitive process, the Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best roll-out strategy, in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business needs and/or high demand. This will need to be balanced with the most efficient network roll-out plan. A prioritisation programme will be put in place in this regard, in consultation with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. A detailed roll-out plan for the network will be published once contract(s) are in place.
The Programme for a Partnership Government commits also to measures to assist in the roll out of the network once a contract is awarded. In this regard, Minister Humphreys is leading on the establishment of two regional action groups taskforces, working with Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Offices, LEADER Groups and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.
