Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 November 2016
666. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will examine an issue (details supplied) regarding broadband in Cootehill; if this can be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34973/16]
View answerThe State can only intervene to ensure access to broadband services in cases of clear market failure.
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. 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:
- 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 which are the subject of the current procurement process.
The map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county including Co. Cavan.
The maps shows that Cootehill in the townland of Killycramph is included in the BLUE area where commercial providers are either currently delivering or previously indicated that they have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode.
Investment decisions by the commercial electronic communications network infrastructure providers in that market, including the timing and location of infrastructure upgrades to make high speed broadband services available, are taken on commercial grounds by each network operator. Neither my Department nor the Commission for Communications Regulation, the independent market regulator, have statutory authority to oblige any particular network provider to invest in the provision of upgraded broadband services.
My Department is however actively monitoring the deployment plans in the BLUE area. Direct feedback from consumers is important and if customers in Cootehill County Cavan cannot access high speed broadband services, I would encourage them to contact my Department directly at broadband@dccae.gov.ie, quoting their address and Eircode, and giving details of providers they have contacted with a view to obtaining services. If investment from commercial operators is not forthcoming, the Department has reserved the right to include the premises in question as part of the procurement process.
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 within the State Intervention Area comprising over 750,000 premises including over 24,000 premises in County Cavan, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.
The procurement process commenced in December 2015. In July, 3 consortia were shortlisted as bidders and invited to participate in formal dialogue. All three bidders involved in dialogue are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network solution to connect rural Ireland. This means that consumers in rural Ireland could have access to services of up to 1,000 megabits per second, with businesses availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds. It will involve the building of a new network in rural Ireland, spanning the equivalent of up to 100,000km of road.
Through this combination of commercial investment by telecoms operators, and the State Intervention, the National Broadband Plan aims to deal conclusively with Ireland’s connectivity challenges.
