Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2015
601. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will tackle the inadequate broadband service to houses and businesses in County Kerry; the number of premises that will be connected to high-speed broadband via State intervention and commercial operators; the date of completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44832/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra602. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will tackle the inadequate broadband service to houses and businesses in Cork county and city; the number of premises that will be connected to high-speed broadband via State intervention and commercial operators; the date of completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44833/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra603. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will tackle the inadequate broadband service to houses and businesses in Waterford county and city; the number of premises that will be connected to high-speed broadband via State intervention and commercial operators; the date of completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44834/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra604. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will tackle the inadequate broadband service to houses and businesses in County Tipperary; the number of premises that will be connected to high-speed broadband via State intervention and commercial operators; the date of completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44835/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra605. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will tackle the inadequate broadband service to houses and businesses in Limerick county and city; the number of premises that will be connected to high-speed broadband via State intervention and commercial operators; the date of completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44836/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra606. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will tackle inadequate broadband service to houses and businesses in County Clare; the number of premises that will be connected to high-speed broadband via State intervention and commercial operators; the date of completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44837/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 601 to 606, inclusive, together.
The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.
The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades and enhanced services. These very significant investments represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.
Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. The areas marked BLUE on the map represent those areas that will have access to commercial high speed broadband services.
The AMBER areas show the target areas for the State intervention. All premises within the AMBER areas will be included in the State's intervention.
The map allows all members of the public, be they business or residential, to see whether their premises or home will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention. The High Speed Map contains a breakdown of premises covered per townland.
It is anticipated that speeds of at least 30Mbps will be also delivered through the Government's intervention and the network will be designed to cater for future increased demand from consumers and business.
Consumers can also consult the websites of the various commercial operators to ascertain details of current and planned future deployment plans.
Over 40 responses were received following the publication of the NBP proposed Intervention Strategy in July last. Non-confidential versions of these submissions are being published and can be accessed at www.Broadband.gov.ie.
Meanwhile, my Department continues to review the technical and financial detail relating to potential new commercial investment proposals.
I expect to proceed to formal procurement before the end of the year. The Government is determined to ensure that the network is built out as quickly as possible and engagement with industry stakeholders has indicated that this could be achieved within 3-5 years of the contract award.
In this context, the NBP proposes that through the combination of commercial investment and State intervention, 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high speed services by 2018 with an ambition of 100% coverage by end of 2020.
The following table details the specific information requested by the Deputy. This information is based on the map produced by the Department in November 2014, and is available on the Department's website.
Notes: Existing and Planned Commercial High Speed Broadband: This is the number of premises by county that commercial operators indicated would be able to receive high speed broadband by end 2016.
Number of Premises covered by State Intervention: This is the number of premises by county that is currently expected to be covered by the proposed Intervention Strategy.
|
County |
Existing Commercial High Speed Broadband Premises covered to date |
Further Planned Commercial High Speed Broadband Premises by end 2016 |
Number of premises covered by State Intervention under the NBP |
|
CLARE |
20,451 |
13,206 |
34,501 |
|
CORK |
126,118 |
55,664 |
85,972 |
|
KERRY |
27,582 |
11,242 |
51,180 |
|
LIMERICK |
48,872 |
14,826 |
33,963 |
|
TIPPERARY |
26,569 |
16,799 |
41,207 |
|
WATERFORD |
31,693 |
11,405 |
17,897 |
