Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
37. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the status of the National Broadband Plan rollout for Bantry, County Cork; the measures he is taking to increase the speed of the rollout of broadband in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39492/23]
View answerThe Digital Connectivity Strategy for Ireland has set a target that all premises in the State will have access to gigabit broadband by 2028. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and through the State investment in National Broadband Ireland (NBI).
Commercial operators’ fibre rollouts are progressing at pace. Open eir have already passed over 1 million homes nationally and almost 129,000 homes and businesses in Co. Cork with gigabit services, with a further c.86,500 planned over the next 2 – 3 years, bringing their total fibre-based investment in the county to over €89m. Other commercial operators are also continuing to increase their network footprint right across the State, with SIRO recently enabling 520,000 premises for full fibre, and Virgin Media announcing plans to bring 2Gbps services to 345,000 premises through upgrade and expansion of their own network.
NBI will 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 NBI that, as of 8th September 2023, 177,852 premises are passed across 26 counties and available for immediate connection. 52,947 premises are already connected to the NBP high-speed broadband network. Furthermore, as of 31st August 22,013 premises in County Cork are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection with 6,545 premises now connected.
NBI have advised that surveying for the Bantry region is due to begin in November 2023. Surveys are needed to establish the condition of existing poles and ducts, to ascertain whether repairs are needed. NBI’s contractors walk the fibre route to inspect infrastructure and gather detailed information on local conditions and this work is on-going. Following survey work, NBI will carry out detailed designs and work on upgrading poles, ducts and rolling out the fibre cable will be carried out over the next twelve months.
Recent ComReg data shows that Quarter 2, 2023 saw a 7.4% increase in fibre broadband subscriptions compared to the first 3 months of the year, and a 33.7% increase when compared to Quarter 2 of 2022. This demonstrates that take-up of fibre connectivity for homes and businesses is increasing massively as it’s deployed to areas where it had previously been unavailable.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Cork 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 8th September some 950 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. In County Cork 23 BCP’s have been installed to date. The site at Mealagh Valley Community Centre, which is now connected, is located approximately 10km from Bantry. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-locations/ .
In County Cork 45 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/ .
