Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 September 2022
103. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of homes in the Dublin Fingal constituency that are awaiting connection to appropriate broadband under the National Broadband Ireland roll-out plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47548/22]
View answerThe 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 over 560,000 premises, including over 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools.
I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 16 September 2022, over 331,000 premises are design completed and over 91,000 premises can order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 25 counties, with over 80,000 premises passed across 23 counties and available for immediate connection. Construction is underway across 26 counties demonstrating that the project is reaching scale. NBI has advised that 1,315 premises in County Dublin are passed with a highspeed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection.
The network rollout for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) is divided into 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) across the country. The DAs typically extend to an area of approximately 25km in radius and in total they cover 96% of Ireland’s landmass. The architecture of the network design is specifically based on the design of the NBI network coming from the eir exchanges or the metropolitan area networks (MANs). It is based on an engineering design that allows NBI to reach every premises as quickly as possible working within the confines of how fibre networks are built. Villages; townlands; counties and constituencies may be covered by a number of DAs which means there are differing timescales for high speed fibrerollout across county areas.
Fingal Constituency is covered by 4 DAs. I am advised by NBI that as of August 31st the progress of each DA is outlined below.
|
DA name |
Intervention premises (IA’s) |
Anticipated date for connection |
|
Skerries |
2330 |
September – November 2022 |
|
Lusk |
1050 |
January - June 2024 |
|
Donabate/Portrane |
3700 |
July – December 2024 |
|
Dunshaughlin |
230 |
January 2025 – December 2026 |
NBI has made recent improvements to their website to enhance the provision of information to Oireachtas members. NBI has now completed a suite of changes, creating a portal that will serve as a means for Oireachtas members to proactively search for information relevant to their county/local area. The portal provides an up-to-date picture of NBI’s deployment schedule across the 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) in all 26 counties. A particular county can be selected to view an update of the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed and connected to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. The dedicated webpage can be accessed here: www.nbi.ie
Further details are available on specific areas within County Dublin 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. Some 720 BCP sites have been installed by NBI to date 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. In County Dublin, 9 BCP’s have been installed to date. Further details can be found at: nbi.ie/bcp-locations/
In County Dublin, 6 schools have been installed by NBI to date 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. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at: nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/
