Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 January 2021
71. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the status of each development area in County Kerry as part of the national broadband plan, in tabular form (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4421/21]
View answer72. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the status of retail service providers established in each development area in County Kerry as part of the national broadband plan, in tabular form (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4422/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 72 together.
The 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 construction commenced 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.
I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 15 January 2021, over 161,000 premises across all counties have been surveyed. In County Kerry, surveys have been completed in townlands around Killarney including Muckross, Fossa, Kilcummin, Lissivigeen, Ballycasheen, Faha, Firies and Ballyhar and in townlands around Tralee such as Curraheen, Abbeydorney, Kilflynn, Firies, Castlemaine and Ardfert. Further details are available on specific areas within County Kerry through the NBI website which provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website www.nbi.ie. Individuals who register with this facility will receive regular updates on progress by NBI on delivering the network and specific updates related to their own premises as works commence. I am advised that NBI is working to provide more detail on its website, with a rolling update on network build plans. NBI also has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas Members for specific queries.
NBI has provided the following indicative target dates for surveying and deployment in Co Kerry over the next 18 months.
|
Area |
No of Premises |
Indicative target Date for Surveys |
|
Castlegregory |
880 |
2021 Q1 |
|
Valentia |
119 |
2021 Q1 |
|
Ballyheigue |
1,377 |
2021 Q1 |
|
Kilgarvan |
2,020 |
2021 Q2 |
|
Listowel |
4,714 |
2021 Q3 |
|
Sneem |
1,021 |
2022 Q2 |
|
Area |
No of Premises |
Indicative Target Date for Connection |
|
Kilarney |
3,382 |
Aug ’21 to Oct ‘21 |
|
Tralee |
3,167 |
Aug ’21 to Oct ‘21 |
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 10 January, 243 publicly accessible BCP sites have been installed by NBI and 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. BCP’s installed in Kerry are Gneeveguilla (Tureencahill), Railway Station Heritage Centre and Community Space, Inch Community Centre, Kielduff Community Centre, Cillín Liath. BCPs are connected at Cable Station and Chapeltown. Further details can be found at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/.
Boheeshil National School, Dunloe Upper and Coars National School will be provided with high speed broadband for educational use through ‘service provider' contracts managed by the Department of Education as part of this initiative. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high speed broadband, within the Intervention Area, for connection over the term of the NBP. In this regard, an acceleration of the schools aspect of the project was announced late last year and will see some 679 primary schools connected to high speed broadband by 2022, well ahead of the original target delivery timeframe of 2026. Further details are available on the NBI website at https://nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
I am advised that currently there are a total of 30 service providers who have signed the NBI Reference offer out of a total of 34 Retail Service Providers (RSPs) who intend to sell on the NBI network. This is all part of the NBI on-boarding process for service providers so that they can sell high speed broadband to the consumer (residential and business). I understand that the larger RSPs will be involved nationwide and some smaller RSPs have expressed local interest. The RSPs who have expressed nationwide interest and who have signed up with NBI to-date are:
|
Eir retail |
|
Sky |
|
Vodafone |
|
Imagine |
|
Viatel |
|
Airspeed |
|
Three |
|
BT |
|
Digiweb |
|
Pure Telecom |
|
IFA Telecom |
|
Magnet Networks |
|
Regional Broadband |
|
IMS |
|
Ripplecom |
|
Airwire |
|
Blacknight Solutions |
|
HiSpeed |
|
HEAnet |
I am advised that NBI are working with RSPs who are specifically focused on a regional basis, such as Ivertec Ltd., who have signed up with NBI and are a regional RSP in Kerry. I understand that there are some other regional RSPs bordering Kerry who have also signed up with NBI such as Digital Forge, BBnet and Nova telecom.
