Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 May 2018
219. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the fibre optic broadband system at a location (details supplied) can be extended due to poor broadband connectivity in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21761/18]
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. Today, almost 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. By 2020, 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This is being achieved via a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention.
In April 2017 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 roll out high speed broadband to 300,000 premises as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April 2017.
According to my Departments High Speed Broadband Map, available at www.broadband.gov.ie, the telecommunications infrastructure serving the area referred to by the Deputy is in a BLUE area, while the Ballinagard area itself is a mixture of both BLUE and AMBER.
Decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the roll-out, siting and extension 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. I have no statutory role or function to intervene in the commercial decisions of private operators, and therefore cannot direct operators regarding infrastructure installation or delivery of services.
There are 191 premises in the townland of Ballinagard. 60 (31%) fall within the AMBER area and these will be served under the State led Intervention. 131 (69%) of premises are in a BLUE area and are or will be served by commercial providers. Information on categories of premises is available on my Department’s website www.broadband .gov.ie by entering the relevant eircode into the High Speed Broadband Map.
My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now in its final stages.
Where a premises situated in a Blue area is unable to obtain a high speed broadband service, I would encourage them to email my Department at broadband@dccae.gov.ie with their eircode and details of the service providers they have contacted and my officials will follow up.
Prior to the rollout of the State led intervention, 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.
