Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 October 2021
103. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the current deployment areas in County Mayo for the roll-out of fibre broadband; the townlands contained within each area; the number of completed premises surveyed in each townland; the number of premises fibre broadband will pass under the National Broadband Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47728/21]
View answerThere 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 24 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.
Surveys are complete in the areas of Castlebar, Ballina, Newport and Carrowmorelacken. Surveys are ongoing in the areas around Killadoon. NBI anticipates that premises around Castlebar will be passed and available for connection in H1, 2022 and around Ballina in H2, 2022. There are 28 Deployment Areas covering 3,422 townlands in County Mayo. NBI has advised that there are circa 168 townlands in the Ballina Deployment area, circa 163 townlands in the Newport DA, circa 208 townlands in the Castlebar DA, circa 73 townlands in the Killadoon DA and circa 174 townlands in the Carrowmorelacken DA.
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 24 September, 376 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-map/.
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/.
