Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2017
566. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the plans put in place by a company (details supplied) for the house and business connections following the completed broadband roll-out in individual areas in the blue and light blue areas; if this is being subcontracted; the proposed individual cost per home and business for connection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39209/17]
View answerIn April, eir signed an agreement with me committing them to follow through on their commercial plans to provide new high speed broadband infrastructure to 300,000 premises in rural areas. eir has committed to doing this work over a 90 week period with an average of 500 premises passed per day. Quarterly updates on progress of the eir 300k roll-out are published on my Department’s website. The Quarter 2 2017 figures have been verified by my Department and the eir roll-out is in line with the Commitment Agreement.
With regard to this roll-out, decisions as to the individual connection costs per home and business are an operational matter determined by eir. My Department has no input in that process.
Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available from eir at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/. Customers seeking connectivity to eir's network should, in the first instance, access this website to determine the connectivity availability status for their eircode. The website also provides a list of retail service providers who offer services in the area.
