Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 October 2016
613. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason the fibre broadband roll-out map for the rural town of Oldtown, County Dublin, indicates that the scheme will stop just meters short of Clonmethan; if he will confirm this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30517/16]
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 formal procurement process for the State Intervention commenced in December 2015.
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 map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county including County Dublin. The townlands of Clonmethan and Oldtown, County Dublin are both included in the AMBER area and will therefore included in the procurement process. Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode. The Department also has a dedicated mailbox and anyone with a query in relation to the Map should email the Department, quoting their Eircode, to broadband@dcenr.gov.ie.
Over 8,000 premises in County Dublin are within the AMBER area and will be covered by the State Intervention.
