Vol. 540 No. 1
185 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position in relation to having telecommunications infrastructure developed in County Donegal in view of the fact that a company (details supplied) has pulled out of the 37 million contract for both the fibre optic and dual subscriber lines technology; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19899/01]
The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband services, is a matter in the first instance for the companies which now operate in a fully liberalised market. My responsibility is for public policy in the sector within which these companies operate. The widest possible availability of competitive services has traditionally been an important objective of Irish telecommunications policy. I have, in recent years, put in place a number of initiatives that seek to address gaps in communications infrastructure in Ireland, particularly by bringing broadband connectivity to regional and rural areas.
Under the National Development Plan 1994-1999, 26 million was made available to support the roll-out of broadband to the regions. Thirteen projects that rolled out broadband nationwide were supported and are now nearing completion. A number of these projects entailed the roll-out of broadband services in the north-west. Esat Telecom was supported in the roll-out of fibre optic cable in urban areas, including Letterkenny. Eircom was allocated funding for the installation of a 95 km high capacity fibre optic cable along the west coast of Donegal, from Bunbeg to Donegal town and from Dunfanaghy to Falcarragh, serving all communities along the route.
The figure allocated to telecommunications initiatives has been significantly increased, to 200 million under the National Development Plan 2000-2006. A first call for proposals was run last year and, on foot of submissions received, I signed nine contracts at the beginning of the year, which will result in additional investment in the regions in broadband infrastructure. The projects involved will be completed over the next two years and will entail an overall investment of 160 million in broadband leveraged from grant assistance of approximately 55 million. Among these projects, Donegal will benefit from the building of the ESB fibre optic network and the construction of a broadband communications corridor by Chorus from Mayo through Sligo and into Donegal. Additional details of these projects are available at www.ndpcomms.gov.ie.
