Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 October 2016
152. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his proposals to develop the communications sector with a view to ready access to state of the art technology including broadband and mobile telephony in all areas throughout the country without exception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32291/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra153. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his targets for the delivery of high speed broadband in all areas throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32292/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra159. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his proposals for access to modern communications technology in all areas without exception throughout the country with particular reference to quality and availability of mobile phone service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32298/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra160. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which the regulatory process leads to change in order to ensure that service providers are obliged to provide a certain quality of mobile telephone service; his views on whether the licence should be withdrawn when a particularly poor service is given; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32299/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 152, 153, 159 and 160 together.
The National Broadband Plan 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.
To date, 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. Approximately 1.3m premises in Ireland can now get high speed broadband and at least one mobile operator is delivering 4G services to over 90% of the population.
The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State Intervention Area comprising over 750,000 premises, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.
Intensive dialogue with bidders is continuing and the three bidders have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution. 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.
Earlier this year, before I came into office, the Department announced that it would be June 2017 before contract(s) were awarded under the NBP. The bidders in the process have recently indicated that they may need more time to conclude the procurement process. The timing of each stage of the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement team, and bidders, during the procurement process. Bidders need adequate time to prepare detailed proposals and their final formal bids and get the relevant shareholder and funding approvals at key stages of the process. It is also important to ensure that risks in this multi-million euro procurement are carefully managed. I do not propose to comment any further at this juncture, given that discussions are ongoing in the procurement process. I can assure the Deputy however, that the procurement process is being intensively managed, to ensure an outcome that delivers a future-proofed network that serves homes and businesses across Ireland, for at least 25 years. The Government considers the NBP to be one of the most significant investments in rural Ireland for decades, and one which will transform society, akin to rural electrification in the last century.
In parallel, and in accordance with commitments in the Programme for Government, Minister Humphreys is leading on the establishment of two regional action groups to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.
In July, I established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce with my colleague Minister Humphreys to address immediate issues in relation to the quality of mobile phone and broadband coverage. I expect the Taskforce to report by end 2016.
€15m has been provided for the NBP in my Departments Estimates for 2017 to provide for early stage mobilisation payment that may be required by winning bidder(s). I have also secured €8m for RTE which will allow it to free up the 700MHz spectrum band.
In addition, I recently signed Regulations allowing ComReg to proceed with an early 2017 auction of the 3.6GHz radio spectrum band, to provide an 86% increase in total spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless services.
These initiatives should assist in significantly improving the quality of broadband and mobile phone services across Ireland, putting Ireland to the forefront internationally in terms of connectivity.
Licences issues by ComReg impose binding conditions, including quality of service and coverage obligations, on Telecommunications Network Operators. Therefore regulatory issues surrounding mobile phone network coverage and quality are statutory functions of the Independent Regulator ComReg.
