National Broadband Plan Expenditure

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 September 2016

Thursday, 29 September 2016

Ceisteanna (254, 255, 256)

Bríd Smith

Ceist:

254. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated yearly cost of the proposed 25-year contract for the NBP under the current proposed model. [27866/16]

Bríd Smith

Ceist:

255. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated costs of alternative proposals around alternative models for unrolling the NBP or any such information his Department may have on such costs. [27867/16]

Bríd Smith

Ceist:

256. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the estimated savings his Department views the chosen funding model will deliver over the 25 years of any contract for the NBP. [27868/16]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment

I propose to take Questions Nos. 254 to 256, inclusive, together.

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) represents a very significant capital investment project for the State and  aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland.  The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. 

On 5 July, the Government selected the Commercial Stimulus Model as the optimum ownership model for the network that will be part funded by the Exchequer.  The Department has completed detailed costings, down to every individual premise in the Intervention Area and, on that basis, has modelled the likely cost of various technologies and ownership models. It would not be appropriate to publish the expected cost of building the network or the likely cost to the State while a major public procurement process is underway . I do not intend therefore to indicate the overall estimated Exchequer funding parameters. Ultimately, the costs will depend on the price that bidder(s) quote in the tender process.

On 29 September 2015, the Government's 6 year Capital Plan, Building on Recovery, was published. It includes an allocation of €275m for the National Broadband Plan (NBP). This allocation provides the initial stimulus required to deliver the Government's intervention and it is expected that further funding will be available over the lifetime of any contract(s). Funding of €75m is committed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The Department commenced the Invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) phase of the procurement process in July and is engaged in the formal dialogue process with the three qualifying bidders. Following the conclusion of the Dialogue Phase and an invitation to bidders to submit detailed draft proposals, the Department will issue final tender documentation to bidders. When final tenders have been submitted a winning bidder(s) will be selected for the contract which will comprise one or two lots as set out in the NBP Intervention Strategy.

The timing of each stage of the procurement is dependent on a number of factors including the number of qualified bidders and the complexities that may be encountered during the procurement process. It must be noted that bidders will need adequate time to prepare detailed proposals and their final formal bids and get the relevant shareholder and funding approvals at these stages of the process.

In preparation for the procurement stage of the process my Department investigated how different technical solutions could be used to deliver high speed broadband. In line with EU State Aid rules, the process must be "technology neutral" and it is not therefore possible to specify what technology should be used to build the network. As part of the procurement process bidders will be asked to propose solutions which meet the NBP service requirements. It is recognised however, that a significant fibre build will be required, regardless of what technology is used to provide services to individual premises. Once the successful bidder or bidders is chosen the technology(ies) to be deployed will become clear.

As part of the Department's extensive stakeholder consultations in 2015, telecommunications service providers indicated that it could take 3-5 years to roll out a network of the scale envisaged under the NBP . It is however open to bidder(s) to suggest more aggressive timescales as part of their bids. As part of the competitive process, the Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best roll-out strategy, in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business needs and / or high demand. This will need to be balanced with the most efficient network roll-out plan. A prioritisation programme will be put in place in this regard, in consultation with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. A detailed roll-out plan for the network will be published once contract(s) are in place.

The Programme for Government also commits to measures to assist in the roll-out of the network once a contract is awarded. In this regard, Minister Humphreys is leading on the establishment of two regional action groups, working with Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Offices and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.

In the meantime, my Department continues to liaise closely with industry and relevant other Departments and agencies to assist in the commercial deployment of telecommunications networks. The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services. These investments will further improve the coverage and quality of broadband and mobile voice and data services throughout the country.

In line with commitments in the Programme for Government I  established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Task Force with my colleague Minister Humphreys in July 2016. The Task force will recommend practical actions that can be taken in the short-term to improve mobile phone and broadband access in Ireland, working with Government Departments, Local Authorities, ComReg, State Agencies, the telecoms industry and other key stakeholders. The work of the task force will also assist Local Authorities in preparing for the roll-out of the new NBP network once contract(s) are in place. I expect that Minister Humphreys and I will bring proposals to Government by the end of 2016, on foot of the Task force's report.