The primary objective of the Government ‘s National Broadband Plan (NBP) is to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector so that today over 67% of the 2.3m premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband and this is set to increase to 77% (1.8m premises) by the end of 2018 and to 90% (2.1m premises) by the end of 2020.
There is currently no plan to put in place a community involvement scheme as envisaged by the Deputy. My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area under the NBP. That procurement process is now at an advanced stage. As part of this procurement process, the bidder(s) will be required to submit their strategies, including timescales and connection solutions, for the network build and rollout.
In addition, it is now standard practice across all Local Authorities to provide advice in relation to the provision of telecommunication ducting between new dwellings and the boundary with the public highway for all new planning decisions. This will facilitate more efficient connection to broadband infrastructure under the National Broadband Plan.
