Written Answers. - Telecommunications Services.
Seymour Crawford
Ceist:
210
Mr. Crawford
asked the
Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources
the position regarding the provision of broadband to County Monaghan; when service will be provided and to which towns; if it will be possible to extend this to rural companies or individuals; if grant aid is available to companies to install satellite or wireless type alternatives; his plans to provide same; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[21812/03]
The provision of telecommunications services is a matter in the first instance for the private companies operating in a fully liberalised market, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation. At present, a basic telephone connection allows normal speed dial-up Internet access in any area. A full list of licensed service providers is available from the Commission for Communications Regulation, Irish Life Mall, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1, or from the website www.comreg.ie.
Recognising that the private sector lacks adequate resources to fund major infrastructure projects, my Department has undertaken a number of initiatives under the communications and e-commerce measure of the NDP 2000-2006 to facilitate the roll-out of advanced communications infrastructure to rural Ireland to enhance the potential for the development of electronic commerce and to enable the provision of public services, including education, welfare and health services. The main thrust of this investment is in the creation of metropolitan area fibre optic networks (MANs) in 19 towns and cities across the country in association with the local authorities, which will facilitate the provision by private telecommunications companies of a wide variety of advanced services. The 19 towns were selected following a Government decision of 7 March 2002 based on the recommendations of the interdepartmental working group on telecommunications and they are Cork, Limerick, Galway, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Dungarvan, Clonmel, Athlone, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Roscommon, Ballina, Letterkenny, Carrick-on-Shannon, Manorhamilton and Gaoth Dobhair. This is the first phase of the strategy; the implementation of phase 2, which includes Monaghan town and Carrickmacross, will be contingent on the successful implementation of phase 1. I am currently discussing the acceleration of MANs for Monaghan and Carrickmacross with my colleague, the Minister for Finance.
The MANs are all under construction and are expected to begin coming on stream in mid-2004. They will be managed for the State on an open-access basis by an independent management services entity, which is now being established following a tender process. Full details of all of the metropolitan area networks and the MSE are available from my Department's website www.dcmnr.ie/mse. Apart from the local authority funding programme, my Department has grant agreements with private sector companies to support the extensive roll-out of digital subscriber lines by eircom and Esat BT, the creation of a third national fibre trunk network by the ESB, which traverses County Monaghan, and the upgrading of existing cable networks and switches by Crossan and Nevadatele. My Department is also funding a number of trials of wireless local area network (WLAN) technology in seven locations around the country, and a report on these trials will be ready by the end of the year. No further calls for proposals are planned pending completion, and a full review, of the current phase of the regional broadband programme.
