Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 October 2016
610. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to improve the speed and quality of the broadband service to the Castletroy, Annacotty area of County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30430/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through private investment by commercial telecommunications companies and through a State intervention in areas where commercial investment is not forthcoming.
The procurement process aims to identify an entity or entities to build, roll-out, operate and deliver high speed broadband of at least 30 Mbps download and 6 Mbps upload speeds to all premises within the intervention area. Last week, I announced that the three bidders in the procurement process have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution for rural Ireland under the National Broadband Plan intervention. Householders and businesses may potentially get speeds not just of 30Mbps but up to 1Gbps with businesses potentially availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a solution that will endure for 25 years and beyond and put Ireland to the forefront internationally in terms of connectivity.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the extent of the State Intervention area:
- The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have previously indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention which are the subject of the current procurement process.
The areas marked BLUE, which includes the Castletroy, Annacotty area of County Limerick represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or previously indicated that they have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. While I cannot compel any operator to provide services to a particular premises or area, my Department is currently examining deployment plans in the BLUE area. Direct feedback from consumers is an important part of this process and I thank the Deputy for bringing this matter to my attention. When this examination is complete I expect to make a recommendation to Government.
If customers within these areas cannot access high speed services, I would encourage them to contact my Department directly at broadband@dcenr.gov.ie, quoting their address and Eircode, and giving details of providers they have contacted with a view to obtaining services.
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 are continuing to improve the coverage and quality of broadband and mobile voice and data services throughout the country.
I consider that all citizens should have access to reliable and quality broadband services and I am acutely aware of the challenges faced by business and households alike due to poor quality broadband and I am working to alleviate the frustrations being felt. In July I established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce with my colleague Minister Heather Humphreys. The Taskforce aims to unlock barriers to investment in mobile and broadband technologies. It has already met 11 times and a number of helpful initiatives are emerging. I intend to report on the outcomes of this task force towards the end of this year.
