Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2018
528. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when broadband service will be available under the national broadband scheme at a person's (details supplied) home. [6954/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe premises referred to by the Deputy is in a LIGHT BLUE area on my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie and searchable by address/eircode. It will be brought a high speed broadband service through eir's commercial plan to provide high speed broadband to 300,000 premises, predominantly in rural areas, by the end of this year.
eir's plan is subject to a binding Commitment Agreement, signed with me in April 2017. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of 2018. Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/. A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie.
Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website. Although deployment figures for Q4 2017 have not yet been verified by my Department’s teams, I understand eir has passed a total of 121,000 premises of the identified 300,000 to date.
Prior to the completion of eir’s rollout in this area, 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.
