Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2010
482 Deputy Dinny McGinley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the unsatisfactory national broadband service in an area (details supplied) in County Donegal; if he will investigate the matter with a view to improving the provision of this service. [20504/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) in late December 2008. Since then, 3 has progressed its network rollout and NBS broadband services are now available in more than 60% of the 1,028 designated Electoral Divisions (ED) to be covered under the Scheme.
The general area of Magheraroarty/Gortahork, County Donegal, will be covered by the NBS. While it is not possible to predict at this stage when precisely broadband services under this Scheme will become available in this area, under the NBS contract, all EDs in the NBS Coverage Area are required to have broadband connectivity by the end of September 2010. The current status of each area to be covered by the NBS is available at www.three.ie/nbs.
