Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2016
435. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated costs which will be incurred for utilising the existing infrastructure of national networks to roll out fibre to the home; the source of funding for any costs associated with upgrading this infrastructure to enable fibre to the home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38684/16]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) represents a very significant capital investment project for the State and 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.
On 5 July the Government selected the Commercial Stimulus Model as the optimum ownership model for the network that will be part-funded by the Exchequer. The Department has completed detailed costings, down to every individual premise in the Intervention Area and, on that basis, has modelled the likely cost of various technologies and ownership models. It would not be appropriate to publish the expected cost of building the network or the likely cost to the State while a major public procurement process is underway. I do not intend therefore to indicate the overall estimated Exchequer funding parameters. Ultimately, the costs will depend on the price that bidder(s) quote in the tender process.
On 29 September 2015, the Government's 6 year Capital Plan, Building on Recovery, was published. It includes an allocation of €275m for the National Broadband Plan (NBP). This allocation provides the initial stimulus required to deliver the Government's intervention and it is expected that further funding will be available over the lifetime of any contract(s).
The Department commenced the Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) phase of the procurement process in July and is engaged in the formal dialogue process with the three qualifying bidders. Following the conclusion of the Dialogue Phase and an invitation to bidders to submit detailed draft proposals, 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 timing of each stage of the procurement is dependent on a number of factors including the number of qualified bidders and the complexities that may be encountered during the procurement process. It must be noted that bidders will need adequate time to prepare detailed proposals and their final formal bids and get the relevant shareholder and funding approvals at these stages of the process.
In preparation for the procurement stage of the process my Department investigated how different technical solutions could be used to deliver high speed broadband. In line with EU State Aid rules, the process must be "technology neutral" and it is not therefore possible to specify what technology should be used to build the network. Notwithstanding, the three bidders in the procurement process have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution under the State Intervention. In cases where fibre is not viable, the bidders might opt for alternative technologies.
In the meantime, my Department continues to liaise closely with industry and relevant other Departments and agencies to remove barriers to assist in the commercial deployment of telecommunications networks. The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2.5bn to support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services.
I have also secured €8m for RTE which will allow it free up the 700MHz spectrum band, to provide enhanced mobile services.
These initiatives should assist in significantly improving the quality of broadband and mobile phone services across Ireland, putting Ireland to the forefront internationally in terms of connectivity.
