Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 September 2023
57. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will ensure that National Broadband Ireland re-investigates the provision of fibre broadband to a property (details supplied). [40664/23]
View answerThe premises referred to in the Question is located in the BLUE area on the NBP High-Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie.
BLUE areas are not included in the State intervention area covered by National Broadband Ireland as commercial operators are already providing high-speed broadband or have indicated future plans to do so. My Department defines high-speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. Under State aid rules, it is not permitted to intervene in areas where commercial investment exists or is planned, as to do so would be an infringement of these rules. The activities of commercial operators delivering high-speed broadband within BLUE areas are not planned or funded by the State and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that regard.
I am advised that Open eir’s commercial fibre network is now enabled in this area, however there appears to be a tree trimming issue with regards to the premises referred to in the Question. My officials are currently seeking further information regarding the nature of the issue that’s hindering connectivity to this premises. They will continue to liaise with the premises holder, Open eir and NBI as appropriate until a solution can be found, and they will advise both the Deputy and the premises holder in due course.
Along with the advancement of the National Broadband Plan in areas not included in industry plans, commercial operators’ fibre rollouts are progressing at pace. Open eir have already connected over 15,500 homes and businesses in Co. Carlow to gigabit services, with a further c.7,200 planned connections over the next 2 – 3 years, bringing their total fibre-based investment in the county to over €9m. Other commercial operators are also continuing to increase their network footprint right across the State, with SIRO recently reaching a milestone of 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.
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 greatly as the services are deployed to areas where it had previously been unavailable.
In December 2022, my Department published Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy which supports the ambition outlined in the National Digital Strategy and sets out a number of ambitious targets, including that:
• all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028
• all populated areas will be covered by 5G no later than 2030, and
• digital connectivity will be delivered to all schools and broadband connection points by 2023
The National Broadband Plan intervention contract provides for the roll out of a high speed and future-proofed broadband network to primarily rural areas. The intervention area covers over 1.1 million people living and working in over 560,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools.
These targets will be achieved through commercial operators investing in their networks, complemented by the State’s National Broadband Plan intervention. When taken together, all premises in the State will have access to high-speed broadband in every part of the country no matter how remote.
