Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
103. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Climate Action and Communication Networks the status of the rollout of the national broadband strategy in north County Dublin as of September 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24993/20]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract signed on 19 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 represents an increase from the 150Mbps committed to under the Contract. The deployment plan forecasts premises passed in all counties within the first 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State having access to high speed broadband within the next four years.
Design work is complete or ongoing in target townlands across 21 counties and steady progress is being made with over 91,000 premises surveyed as at 15 September. This survey work is feeding into detailed designs for each deployment area and laying fibre should commence shortly with the first fibre to the home connections expected in Cork around December this year.
I am advised that surveying of townlands in Skerries is imminent. This will involve physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of the poles, cables and underground ducts in each area. This is informing design solutions for provision of the fibre network. NBI provides a facility for any premises within the Intervention Area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website (https://nbi.ie/map/ ).
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. Approximately 300 sites in rural areas were identified for connection by the end of 2020 including 75 schools. 144 BCP sites have been installed by NBI as of 8 September. The high speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly available sites and by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) for schools. In North Dublin, Balscadden National School will be connected for educational access as part of this initiative, while the public will be able to benefit from this service at locations across the county such as Man Of War GAA Club, Newbridge House and Farm, and Fingal Ravens GAA Club. Further details can be found at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/.
Bringing connectivity to remote rural locations is central to promoting regional development and BCPs represent an important delivery in the early stages of the National Broadband Plan.
