Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
281. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if National Broadband Ireland will hold discussions with Eir in order to provide broadband to premises in cases in which Eir fibre broadband infrastructure is bordering an amber area under the National Broadband Plan and in which there is sufficient capacity to accommodate more premises on this line; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20353/21]
View answerThe High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie, shows the areas which will be included in the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led intervention as well as areas targeted by commercial operators. The map is colour coded and searchable by address and Eircode.
- Premises in the AMBER area will be provided with high speed broadband through the State led Intervention, the contract for which was signed in November last with National Broadband Ireland (NBI).
- The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
My Department defines high speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. Eir’s rural deployment of high speed broadband is a commercial undertaking and is not part of the planned State Intervention. Their operations are not funded by the State and are not planned, designed or directed by my Department in any capacity. The decision as to the areas and premises served is made by eir internally and on a commercial basis. They operate in a fully liberalised market regulated by ComReg as the independent regulator. My Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that process.
I understand that NBI are engaging with eir and the wider market to seek solutions for a number of categories of premises and that this includes those premises that are close to the eir rural fibre network. I am advised that it is expected that this will be progressed over the coming months.
I appreciate people's frustration when they are living so close to a fibre network but cannot get a connection to that network, particularly given the heightened importance of connectivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. The NBP will ensure that in all such cases a future proofed high speed broadband network will be built to serve these premises and work to deliver on this is underway.
