Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 May 2020
719. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason residents on the N52 outside Mullingar, County Westmeath (details supplied) cannot avail of broadband. [7372/20]
View answerThe government is committed to delivering high speed broadband to every home, farm, business and school in Ireland.
The area referred to in the Question has premises which fall within the AMBER and BLUE areas on the High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.ie. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led Intervention, the contract for which was signed in November last with National Broadband Ireland (NBI).
The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. There may be a choice of operators offering a service in the area referred to and further information in this regard is available at www.comreg.ie/compare/#/services.
Under the State led intervention, all counties, including Co. Westmeath, will see premises passed in the first 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband within the next four years. The NBP network will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 150Mbps from the outset. By the end of next year, NBI plans to pass in the region of 115,000 premises, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until rollout is completed. Further information on deployment activities is available on NBI’s website ( www.nbi.ie ).
I note that there is fibre installation close to the premises mentioned in the Question. Eir’s rural deployment of high speed broadband is a commercial undertaking and not part of the planned State led intervention network. The decision as to what areas and premises are served was made by eir on a commercial basis and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that process.
To support remote working and connected communities, approximately 300 Broadband Connections Points (BCPs) were identified by Local Authorities to be connected to high speed broadband this year. This will assist communities to quickly get free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main NBP deployment. The planned BCP locations, including schools, library hubs, local sports facilities and other public places are available to view on the High Speed Broadband Map on the Department’s website www.broadband.gov.ie. The BCP delivery project is well underway and surveying of the BCP locations is progressing which will facilitate detailed design and installation. BCP locations are subject to change and a number of the premises initially identified are in the process of being replaced with alternative locations. The remaining BCPs remain on track for delivery by the end of 2020.
The BCPs in identified public places will leverage the high speed broadband connection through a range of measures and initiatives, for example providing free public Wi-Fi, some will also have hot-desks, and some will be digital hub business centres where digital training, business information events and other SME supports are organised.
