Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 July 2013
165. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with reference to the announcement on 1 July 2013 of a plan to map broadband services across the country with a view to establishing comprehensive connectivity by 2015, if he will describe the methodology that will underpin this mapping exercise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32787/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August last, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed services of 30Mbps are available to all of our citizens and businesses, and in advance of the EU’s target date of 2020, and that significantly higher speeds are available to as many homes and businesses as possible.
The Plan aims to deliver high speed broadband to all parts of Ireland through two principal means:
(a) by providing a policy and regulatory framework that assists in accelerating and incentivising commercial investment, and
(b) by providing a State-led investment for areas where it is not commercial for the market to invest.
The National Broadband Plan envisages that industry will be the key driver of investment with State intervention only where there is market failure.
Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and wireless high speed broadband services. There is evidence that industry is investing beyond the targets to which they committed in the Plan with investments of up to €1bn underway
In order to progress the State-led investment, a full procurement process must be designed and EU State Aids approval must be obtained.
My Department has launched a formal mapping exercise to identify the areas of the country to be targeted in the State-led investment under the Government’s National Broadband Plan to ensure the provision of high speed broadband services where the commercial market will not deliver. My Department has written to over 200 operators authorised by ComReg to provide broadband services to inform them of the exercise. Representative bodies (TIF, ALTO, etc.) have been informed and a notice was placed in national newspapers. Full details of the process and timelines associated with the plan to map broadband services across the country are published on my Departments website at www.dcenr.ie/nbpmapping.
These maps will be published for public consultation in line with the EU State Aid Guidelines for rapid broadband deployment. The maps will be developed using data aggregated from all participating operators.
The results of this mapping exercise will inform the level of Government interaction that may be required and the areas that need to be targeted in the State-led investment so as to deliver on the targets for high speed broadband contained in the National Broadband Plan. This exercise will inform an EU State Aids application in respect of the State-led intervention and is a necessary prerequisite for State Aids approval.
Intensive technical, financial and legal preparations including stakeholder engagement will be ongoing throughout 2013 with a view to the launch of a procurement process in 2014.
Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, we are committed to increasing the availability of next generation speeds significantly, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and businesses can participate fully in a digitally enabled society.
