Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2014
203. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide a list, following the completion of the post-primary broadband network, of the broadband connectivity assets and network which are now owned by the State. [47584/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of 100Mbps connectivity in all post-primary schools, following a public procurement competition, is delivered on existing telecommunications networks, owned and operated by licensed service providers. As such, this project did not require any new infrastructure to be constructed by the State for the purposes of delivering this broadband connectivity. Under the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) programme, the State, with the support of the European Union, invested over the period 2002-2009, in the provision of wholesale, open access fibre networks in 94 regional towns and cities. The MANs infrastructure is managed, maintained and operated by a private company, enet, on behalf of the Contracting Authority, namely the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Local Authorities. The MANs have played an important role in driving competition in the regions and have facilitated telecommunications operators, large and small, in providing high speed broadband services without having to build their own networks.
A number of commercial and non-commercial semi-state entities also own telecommunications networks and infrastructures. Such companies and agencies include ESBT, Eirgrid, Bord Gáis Éireann (Aurora), RTÉ, Bord na Móna, Coillte, CIE, OPW, RPA and Waterways Ireland.
