Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 April 2019
86. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the discussions he has had with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment with regard to broadband provision in rural areas; the progress of the provision of a map of blackspots in mobile coverage undertaken by the mobile phone and broadband taskforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15471/19]
View answerAs Minister of State for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development, I work across both the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I also chair the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce, a cross-Government body co-ordinated by officials of the two Departments.
I am keenly aware of the importance of access to high-speed, high-quality broadband services in rural areas and I engage regularly with my Ministerial colleagues in both Departments on how we can collaboratively remove barriers to the rollout of telecommunications infrastructure.
With regard to mobile phone blackspots, in 2017, officials from my Department, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and a small number of Local Authorities met to examine the potential for mapping mobile phone blackspots in Ireland.
On foot of these meetings, an invitation was issued in late 2017 to all Local Authorities to provide data on 5 or 6 prioritised local blackspots, with a view to examining the potential for mapping mobile phone blackspots in Ireland.
The objective was not to compile a definitive list of blackspots across the country, but to identify areas of immediate priority for the purposes of testing an approach to the mapping of blackspots.
While the exercise was informative, it was not comprehensive. Of the thirty one Local Authorities, only seventeen returned data to feed into the exercise.
ComReg has recently published a national map of outdoor mobile phone coverage for 2G, 3G and 4G services for a range of providers. This map, which is available on ComReg’s website, shows the quality and prevalence of mobile phone coverage right across the country for each provider. It will prove to be a useful tool for consumers on the services available in their areas.
