Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 April 2017
619. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when a business (details supplied) in County Louth will have access to high-speed Internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16312/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraToday the 4th April, I formally published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The updated Map shows the following categories of areas for delivery of broadband:
- The BLUE areas represent those areas where commercial telecommunications providers are either currently delivering or have indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services,
- The AMBER areas on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the areas that will require State Intervention and are the subject of the current procurement process.
It is intended that all premises will have access to services of at least 30 megabits per second when the procurement process is completed and the network rolled out.
The map indicates that Omeath, County Louth is within a BLUE area and will, therefore, be served by commercial operators. There are, however, several premises within the Omeath BLUE area that have been identified as not being able to receive High Speed Broadband. These premises are now identified as AMBER dots on the updated map and will be part of the State Intervention under the NBP. 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.
With the publication today of the updated Map the State Intervention Area has now been finalised. 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 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. 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.
The Programme for Government also commits to measures to assist in the rollout of the network once a contract is awarded.
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 and a prioritisation programme.
