Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
165. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of connections under the national broadband plan in County Mayo; how that compares to revised targets; the sanctions against the contracted company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35015/23]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) state led intervention aims 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 almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools.
I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 30 June 2023, 154,437 premises are passed across 26 counties and available for immediate connection. 45,228 premises are already connected to the NBP high-speed broadband network. NBI has also advised that as of 30 June, 5,613 premises in County Mayo are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection with 1,653 premises connected.
To date, the level of connections is in line with projections. In several counties, the level of take-up has exceeded 30% only a few months after services were made available which is very positive.
Where fibre has been available from NBI since 2021 the take up is reaching 40%. There are currently around 3,000 premises connecting to the NBP network every month and this monthly connection number is expected to increase to approximately 4,000 per month during 2023.
NBI is committed to delivering a cumulative target of 185,000 premises passed by the end of January 2024.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Mayo which can be monitored via nbi.ie/reps. A county update can be selected to provide 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. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) 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 30 June 2023, 938 SCP sites (283 Broadband Connection Points, which are publicly accessible sites, and 655 schools) have been installed 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 Mayo all 16 BCP’s have been installed to date. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-map/.
In County Mayo all 58 schools have been installed 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/
The contract with NBI contains a comprehensive set of protections and legally binding obligations. The contract requires significant monthly, quarterly and annual reporting of costs and revenues to the Department, with the subsidy released only on achievement of contract milestones which are verified through an independent certification process. This means that NBI is only paid subsidy when milestones have been met and verified.
The contract makes provision for dealing with delays to delivery of the network.
