The rollout of broadband services to the areas designated under the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is nearing completion and there are no plans to extend the scope of the Scheme. Prior to the commencement of the NBS a detailed mapping exercise was carried out to help determine those areas that would be included in the scheme and those which, by virtue of being already substantially served by existing broadband suppliers, could not be included.
That mapping exercise found that a number of existing broadband suppliers were already active in the area referred to in the Deputy's Question and consequently the locality was excluded from the Scheme in accordance with EU State Aid and competition rules. Details of broadband services available in each county can be found on ComReg's website at www.callcosts.ie.
It continues to be a priority of the Government that there will be broadband coverage across the entire country. However, despite Government and private investment in broadband, I am aware that there continues to be a small percentage of premises throughout the country that will not be capable of receiving broadband services. This is primarily due to technical and other reasons (suitability of a telephone line, distance from an enabled exchange, no line of sight etc.).
The European Commission has set aside a portion of the European Economic Recovery Programme (EERP) funding for rural broadband initiatives. Using this funding, which will be augmented by an Exchequer contribution, I intend to formally launch a Rural Broadband Scheme before the end of this year. This scheme will aim to provide a basic broadband service to individual un-served rural premises outside of the NBS areas.
