Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 November 2020
254. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications if he will arrange for the publication of a detailed timetable for the provision of broadband for each townland in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32836/20]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract signed last November 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 over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools.
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. As of 27 October, design work is complete or on-going in target townlands across 25 counties and steady progress is being made with over 118,000 premises surveyed to date. This activity is increasing week on week and NBI expects to have completed some 120,000 surveys by the end of the year. This activity involves 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. This detailed design is then used to initiate the ‘make ready’ project with eir for the area, where eir ensure any poles and ducts being reused are fit for purpose. It is also used to initiate works with the subcontractors deploying the actual fibre in the area. The laying of fibre should commence shortly with the first fibre to the home connections expected around December this year in Cork. Given that the contracted delivery of the National Broadband Plan State led intervention is over a 7 year period and the nature of the works involved in delivering a fibre telecommunications network, it is not possible to provide a detailed timetable on a Townlands basis. 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/). In Clare, I can advise that surveys have commenced in the areas of Cratloe, Ballycannan, Ballyglas and Cloghrea and further surveys are due to commence in the areas of Kilkishen before the end of this year.
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. As of 23 October, some 179 BCP sites have been installed by NBI and 59 of these are now connected with high speed publicly accessible broadband, through a service provider contract managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development. In addition, school BCPs will be provided with high speed broadband, for educational use only, through a service provider contract managed by the Department of Education and Skills. To date, 6 schools have been connected with high speed broadband for educational access only. It is anticipated that 275 BCP sites will be connected by the end of the year. Further details can be found at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/. BCPs connected in County Clare include Cree Community Centre, Loop Head Lighthouse and Michael Cusack Visitor Centre, with other locations at Caherconnell and Flagmount to be connected in the coming months. A number of schools in Clare including Kilmurry McMahon, Shragh, Ennistymon and Stonehall National Schools will be connected to high speed broadband as part of the BCP initiative. My Department will work with Department of Education and Skills to prioritise the remaining schools to be connected over the term of the NBP. While substantial progress has been made to date, the Covid 19 pandemic has had an 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. The Covid 19 pandemic has also highlighted the importance of good reliable broadband to ensure that citizens across Ireland can avail of remote working, education and other essential online facilities. This is reflected in the commitments in the Programme for Government where delivery of the National Broadband Plan will be a key enabler to many of the policies envisaged particularly around increased levels of remote working. The Programme for Government has committed to seek to accelerate the roll out of the National Broadband Plan. In this regard, my Department continues to engage with NBI to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of this roll out to establish the possibility of bringing forward premises which are currently scheduled in years 6 and 7 of the current plan to an earlier date. Exploring the potential to accelerate the network roll out is being undertaken in parallel with the measures required to mitigate delays arising as a result of Covid-19.
