I propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 178 and 183 together.
In April I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at: www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high-speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State-led Intervention under the National Broadband Plan, NBP. The Map is searchable by Eircode:
- The BLUE areas on the Map represent those areas where commercial telecommunications providers are either currently delivering, or have indicated plans to deliver high-speed broadband services;
- The AMBER areas on the Map represent the areas that will require State Intervention and are the subject of a procurement process.
The map provides information on a county-by-county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county. There are over 2.3 million premises in Ireland, of which approximately 542,000 premises are located in the AMBER area on the Map. Information on county coverage including townland statistics in each area is available on my Department's website.
The position in relation to the areas referred to in the Deputies Questions is as follows:
- The map shows that the townland of Ballinterry, County Cork, comprises 13 premises and broadband coverage will be realised through a mix of commercial investment and through the State Intervention under the National Broadband Plan, NBP. Of the 13 premises, nine fall within the State Intervention area, while the remaining four of these premises fall within eir's 300k planned rural deployment.
- There are over 90,000 premises in County Kildare, of which over 13,000 fall within an AMBER area and will be part of the State-led Intervention under the NBP. The remaining c. 77,000 premises fall within a BLUE area and will be covered by commercial operators, of which c. 7,000 premises form part of eir’s planned rural deployment to deliver rural high-speed broadband between now and end 2018.
The Eircode of the premise will indicate whether the premises will be covered commercially or be part of the State-led Intervention. Individuals can access the High Speed Broadband Map: www.broadband.gov.ie using their Eircode to ascertain the colour code (BLUE or AMBER) status for their premises.
Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available from eir at: http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/. Citizens can access this website to determine the connectivity availability status for their premises using their Eircode. The website also provides a list of retail service providers who offer services using high-speed fibre network in the area.
My Department is engaged in an ongoing procurement process to select a company or companies, who will roll out a new high-speed broadband network for the State-led intervention. A significant milestone in that procurement process was reached last week with the submission of, "Detailed Solutions", by two bidders. This is the last stage of the procurement process before receipt of final tenders and ultimate progression to the appointment of a preferred bidder(s).
To improve both mobile and broadband services in rural Ireland in advance of the roll-out of the high-speed broadband network to be built in the State intervention area, I established a Taskforce to identify immediate solutions to mobile phone and broadband coverage deficits and investigate how better services could be provided to consumers. These solutions will enhance the existing services prior to the full build and roll-out of the network planned under the National Broadband Plan State intervention.
It is intended that all premises will have access to services of at least 30 Megabits per second when the procurement process for the State-led intervention is completed and the network rolled out.
