Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 June 2013
533. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in relation to stakeholder involvement in the mapping process of the national broadband plan, if he considers the public to be stakeholders, and if so, the way he intends to involve them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27680/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is making preparations to commence a formal national mapping exercise to identify those areas where State intervention will be required to enable the delivery of high speed broadband services over the coming years in line with the commitments set out in the National Broadband Plan. It will also form a critical input to an EU State Aid application in respect of any State-led intervention.
There will be many stakeholders in this process and in the implementation of the National Broadband Plan as a whole. While my Department will be relying on the voluntary participation of the service and infrastructure operators to provide information to form the basis of the coverage maps, it is for the public benefit and at the expense of the public purse that the State intends to intervene in the market. Accordingly, the public at large are stakeholders in the process designed to ensure the provision of high speed broadband services nationwide.
Information about the mapping exercise and updates as the process advances will be published on my Department’s website once the process is launched very shortly. The initial stages of the mapping exercise will focus on gathering and validating data on current and anticipated investment by the commercial sector. This will culminate in the development of coverage maps which will aggregate the information provided by operators and indicate the areas that need to be targeted in the State-led investment. I expect these maps to be completed by the end of this year and the maps will be made available to the public on my Department’s website at that stage.
