Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 March 2021
188. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the extent to which the broadband roll-out throughout the country can be expedited with a view to ensure the availability of sufficient connectivity to enable the maximum number of citizens to work from home or from hubs where available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13220/21]
View answer190. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of new broadband connections being made on a monthly basis notwithstanding the lockdown; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13222/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 188 and 190 together.
A combination of commercial investment and the State led intervention under the National Broadband Plan (NBP) will ensure access to high speed broadband in every part of the country and no premises will be left behind, no matter how remote. Of the 2.4 million premises across Ireland, 77% of premises now have access to high-speed broadband of more than 30 Mbps. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) will address the remaining premises through the NBP State led intervention.
The NBP State led Intervention will be delivered by NBI under a contract 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.
In addition, a number of commercial operators have announced further investment plans in high-speed broadband. Eir has said it will roll out fibre to a further 1.4 million premises, bringing their fibre deployment to some 1.8 million premises. SIRO is currently completing the first phase of its fibre deployment which will see 375,000 premises passed with gigabit services. Virgin Media is offering 250Mbps as a standard offering with 500Mbps and 1Gbps available to many of their customers across the more than 1 million premises that they cover. Many other network operators and telecom service providers across the State also continue to invest in their networks.
The latest available Comreg Key Data Report on broadband for Q3, 2020 shows that fixed broadband subscriptions increased to 1.5 million which is an increase of 0.8% for that quarter and an increase of 3.6% compared to Q3, 2019. Of these, over 223k were fibre to the premises (FTTP) subscriptions representing 14.8% of the total fixed broadband in Q3 2020 which is up from 9.9% in Q3 2019. In Q3, 2020 approximately 80.4% of broadband subscribers had purchased broadband with speeds equal to or greater than 30Mbps. Of all fixed broadband subscriptions 40.8% of subscribers purchased broadband speeds equal to or greater than 100Mbps. According to Eurostat, in 2019 Ireland’s household penetration rate (including fixed and mobile broadband) at 90% is slightly higher than the EU average of 89%.
I am advised by National Broadband Ireland that, as of 3 March 2021, nearly 187,000 premises across all counties have been surveyed. Further details are available on specific areas 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.
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 3 March, 287 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 for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for school BCPs.
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 this aspect of the National Broadband Plan was announced in December which 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/.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of good reliable broadband to ensure that citizens across Ireland can avail of remote working, education and other essential online facilities. The Programme for Government commits 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 deployment. 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 which are also the subject of detailed discussions with NBI.
