National Broadband Plan

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 October 2016

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

Questions (161)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

161. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31127/16]

Written answers

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment

The Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every citizen and business 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 Broadband Intervention strategy for Ireland is available at http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/communications/en-ie/Pages/Publication/Ireland's-Broadband-Intervention-Strategy-update.aspx

This 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 to all citizens; be capable of providing for higher performance in the future so as to keep pace with consumer demand; ensure the availability of high quality wholesale services to allow retail competition to develop.

The Plan envisages public investment in the capital costs of building the necessary infrastructure to support high-quality affordable broadband services similar to those already available in cities and towns. This network will be made available to service providers on a wholesale basis and it is the intention that the wholesale prices charged within the intervention area will be no more than the average published wholesale prices that prevail in other comparable, more competitive areas of the country or the European Union or, in the absence of such published prices, prices already set or approved by the Regulator, ComReg.

The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network to over 750,000 premises in Ireland, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.