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National Broadband Plan Funding

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017

Thursday, 13 April 2017

Ceisteanna (327)

Dara Calleary

Ceist:

327. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount of funding provided under the capital plan for the national broadband plan; the amount spent to date; the expected completion date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18833/17]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Government’s Capital Investment Plan (2016 – 2021) includes an initial provision of €275m for the National Broadband Plan (NBP).  This represents an initial stimulus for the first five years of the NBP intervention, with remaining payments being spread over the full 25 years of the contract.  The amounts required by bidders will only be known after bidders provide their initial estimates of cost and subsidy requirements. Total spend to-date under this Plan is just over €5m. 

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. 

On 4 April, 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie.  The 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.

The updated Map gives certainty to the bidders in terms of the State Intervention Area for the procurement process.  This is an important milestone as it means that bidders can progress their business plans and the Department can move to the next stage of the procurement.   

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 once contracts are in place.

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.

The Government remains committed to ensuring that all parts of Ireland will have at least 30Mbps connectivity, through public or private sector investment, as outlined in the National Broadband Plan.

 

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