I propose to take Questions Nos. 666, 667 and 685 together.
The State invested in the construction of 88 Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), covering 94 regional cities and towns, over the period 2002- 2009. The Local Authorities in which the MANs are situated are the legal owners of the MANs and the Minister is the beneficial owner thereof.
The MANs infrastructure provides a link between national backhaul networks and the “last mile” access networks that deliver telecommunications services to citizens and businesses. These wholesale, open access fibre networks are operated and managed in a commercial manner, on behalf of the State, by a Managed Services Entity (MSE), enet. Currently, over 60 operators use the MANs infrastructure, and there are some 2,500 connections to the MANs.
It is estimated that in excess of 600,000 business users and individuals are benefitting from the MANs, including industrial estates, multinationals, SMEs, State entities, educational institutions, together with fixed and mobile customers outside Dublin. It is not possible to provide information relating to the percentage of commercial customers, since data relating to end customers is a matter for each individual service provider.
There are no plans to sell the MANs and in this regard, no valuation exercise has been carried out to assess the current market value of the MANs. A recent retrospective review of the MANs Programme carried out by my officials concluded that the MANs have played, and continue to play, an important role in driving competition in the regions and attracting foreign direct investment to the cities and towns where they are located. The creation of the MANs as an exclusive fibre network facilitates service providers, large and small, in responding to the ongoing growth in demand for bandwidth capacity.
With reference to the Action Plan for Rural Development, the MSE continues to actively encourage licensed operators to utilise the MANs infrastructure. My Department is currently making arrangements to carry out an independent evaluation of the operations of the MANs, including pricing of the MANs products and services to ensure that they are within market norms. Recommendations are also being sought as to proposals to boost further uptake of the MANs.
