Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2017
413. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when fibre optic high-speed broadband will be provided to a person (details supplied) who is 100 m from connection to the services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52844/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector so that today over 67% of the 2.3m premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. This is set to increase to 77% (1.8m premises) by the end of 2018 and to 90% (2.1m premises) by the end of 2020.
In April I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).
The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:
- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.
- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The Light BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of 2018 as part of an Agreement signed with me in April.
The map shows that there are 141 premises in the townland of Ticknevin, Co Kildare of which 27 premises fall within the AMBER area and will require State Intervention. The remaining 114 premises fall within the LIGHT BLUE area and are to be covered by eir's planned rural deployment. Individuals can themselves check whether their premises is in an AMBER, BLUE or LIGHT BLUE area by accessing the High Speed Broadband Map and entering their Eircode at www.broadband.gov.ie Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available from eir at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/
Concerning the specific premises referenced by the Deputy, and following contact between the Deputy's office with a view to establishing the eircode of the premise I can confirm that the referenced premises is in the AMBER area and will be part of the State led intervention under the NBP. While I note that the premises is close to eir's ongoing rural deployment of high speed broadband to 300,000 premises it is important to understand that decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the rollout and siting of infrastructure to provide high speed broadband services throughout Ireland are undertaken on a commercial basis by competing service providers operating in a liberalised market and are not decisions in which I have a statutory role.
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now at an advanced stage. The “Detailed Solutions” submitted by two bidders on 26th September are being evaluated by the NBP specialist team. The next stage in the procurement process is the receipt of final tenders followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder(s) and contract signature. As part of this procurement process, the bidder(s) will be required to submit their strategies, including timescales and plans to priority areas, for the network build and rollout.
I recognise the importance of availability of high speed connectivity for all premises in Ireland and the frustration for communities that do not currently have access to this level of connectivity. Delivering connectivity to the 542,000 premises (including the 27 premises in Ticknevin) that fall within the State led intervention under the NBP remains a Government priority and my Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) to ensure the most efficient deployment as part of the contract.
As part of this procurement process, the bidder(s) will be required to submit their strategies, including timescales, for the network build and rollout. My Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) to ensure the most efficient deployment as part of the contract.
In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.
Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen. These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities. The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure. There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.
