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National Broadband Plan

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 July 2020

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Questions (485)

Patricia Ryan

Question:

485. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when the 300 high-speed internet hubs announced under the National Broadband Plan on 19 November 2019 will be delivered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16952/20]

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Written answers

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) contract was signed with National Broadband Ireland (NBI) in November 2019 to roll out a high-speed and future-proofed broadband network to almost 540,000 premises across the State.

Among the first premises to be connected under the NBP are approximately 300 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs). Each site will be provided with a wireless high speed broadband connection which will make free on-site internet connectivity available to the public. Site owners have volunteered their premises to host public BCP services, thus supporting their communities and ensuring they get a head start on rural connectivity.

The planned BCP locations are listed by county on NBI's website at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/. These sites have been carefully selected by Local Authorities, in consultation with local communities and site owners, so that they can provide free public Wi-Fi to support residents of rural communities likely to wait longest for a connection under the fully NBP deployment. It should be noted that some BCP sites may change over time as commercial connectivity becomes more widespread and as the circumstances at each site change.

To date, more than 70 BCPs across the country have been provided with an initial backhaul connection by National Broadband Ireland. Over the coming weeks, Vodafone, as the internet service provider, will also begin installing their public access equipment at each site which will enable the BCPs to “go live”.

It is envisaged that all Broadband Connection Points will be connected to provide public Wi-Fi internet access within the next twelve months.

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