Alan Kelly
Ceist:295. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of fibre broadband provision for an area (details supplied). [10511/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 1 March 2017
Ceisteanna (295, 297)
Jackie Cahill
Ceist:297. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will review the amber status in the broadband roll-out for the village of Knockavilla, County Tipperary, in view of the fact it suggests the number of houses in the area is too small to be included as a blue status area when, in reality, Knockavilla comprises numerous townlands (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10635/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 295 and 297 together.
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed broadband 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 a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State Intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated.
A key principle of the NBP is to support and stimulate commercial investment through policy and regulatory measures. Commercial investment since the publication of the NBP has considerably exceeded expectations. To date, the commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2.5bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services.
There has been significant progress in relation to broadband rollout so that today, approximately 1.4m or 61% of premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband of a minimum of 30 Megabits per second. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector, which is continuing to expand this footprint.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the current extent of the State Intervention area:
- The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial telecommunications 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. It is intended that premises within this area will have access to services of at least 30 megabits per second when the procurement process is completed and the network rolled out.
Knockavilla, Oughterleague, Ballinamona, Ballygarrane, Ballywalter, Bishopswood, Clonaspoe, Clonkelly, Cumask, Killenure, Kilmore Lower, Kilmore upper and Lisloran are in the AMBER area. Dundrum, Donohill & Donaskeigh are in the BLUE area and so are in areas earmarked as commercial by commercial operators.
Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by accessing the High Speed Broadband Map and entering their Eircode.
A formal procurement process is in train to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State Intervention (AMBER) Area. My Department will shortly update the High Speed Broadband map to finalise the Intervention Area for the Procurement process, taking into account industry investments that have not materialised in BLUE areas, together with new industry investments within the proposed State Intervention Area, along with concrete and credible commitments by industry for further new investments within the current Intervention Area.
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. Intensive dialogue with bidders is continuing and the three bidders have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution. This provides for a future proofed solution for the 25 years of the contract and beyond. A fibre-to-the-home solution means that householders and businesses may get speeds not just of 30 Megabits per second but much higher, potentially up to 1000 Megabits per second.
The timeframe for 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. During the Department's extensive stakeholder consultations in 2015, telecommunications service providers indicated a 3-5 year timeline to rollout a network of the scale envisaged under the NBP.
As part of the competitive process, the Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best rollout 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 rollout 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 rollout plan for the network will be published once contract(s) are in place.
Question No. 296 answered with Question No. 293.
Question No. 297 answered with Question No. 295.