The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (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 some 699 schools.
There are 84,299 premises in County Mayo of which 47,872 are in the commercial area and 36,793 are within the NBP Intervention Area. I am advised by NBI that, as of 17 September 2021, over 257,000 premises in the Intervention Area across all counties have been surveyed and over 108,000 premises are under construction across 30 Deployment Areas.
I am advised by NBP that the following represents the deployment progress in County Mayo as at the 17 September.
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Mayo - Surveys complete
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Mayo - Surveys ongoing
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Anticipated dates for premises to be passed and available for connection
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8,281 Premises in areas around Castlebar (2,139), Ballina (2,678) Newport (1,826)Carrowmorelacken (1,638)
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1,008 Premises in areas around Killadoon.
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Castlebar H1, 2022
Ballina H2, 2022
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In addition to the challenges to the delivery of the NBP due to the Covid-19 pandemic, NBI has faced a range of other challenges due to the sheer scale and complexity of rolling out fibre to the home in a rural environment. These include significant tree trimming to ensure cable can be placed on overhead poles, remediation of ducting that has been in place for many decades, the co-ordination of hundreds of contracting crews and addressing the many issues arising week on week which could not have been foreseen until the build crews commenced work on the ground. My Department has worked closely with NBI to put in place a remedial plan under the Contract. This plan addresses delays experienced by NBI, primarily arising as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and re-baselines milestones for 2021. Work is underway to re-baseline milestones for 2022 and beyond. This has resulted in some changes to timeframes for connection for end users.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Mayo 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. NBI 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 17 September, 373 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. BCP’s are connected at The Black Tom Freeman Sport and Community Amenities Centre, Islandeady Community Centre, Kilmovee Community Centre, Killaser Community Centre, Clare Island Community Centre, Cushlough Community Centre, Carrowkennedy, Keel Community Centre, Belderrig Community & Research Centre, Finny Community Centre, Taugheen Community Centre, and Bofeenaun Community Centre. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-locations.
Valley National School, Dookinella National School, Midfield National School, Cloonliffen National School, Errew National School, Gortskehy National School, Kinaffe National School, Rathbane National School, Tavraun Central National School, Saint Coleman's National School, Rathnamagh National School, Cloghans National School, Meelick More National School, Facefield National School, and Scoil Néifinn, Keenagh, have been installed by NBI for educational access. 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 nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
