The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is the only Exchequer funded project with a budget over €1 billion overseen by my Department.
The NBP contract was signed with National Broadband Ireland (NBI) in November last to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the nearly 540,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. The NBP network will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 500Mbps from the outset. This has recently been increased from the 150Mbps commitment set out the NBP Contract.
Covid 19 has disrupted project delivery in various sectors across the State but at this stage the major impact of the pandemic on the NBP is not cost-related. While substantial progress has been made on the project to date, the Covid 19 pandemic has had some impact on the delivery of the fibre network. The extent of this impact is currently being assessed and NBI has committed to put in place measures to mitigate the impact in as far as possible.