Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 July 2018
472. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the status of the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31587/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra473. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to set out the number of premises in County Cork connected to high-speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31588/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra474. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to set out the number of premises in north-west County Cork connected to high-speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31589/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra475. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to set out the number of premises nationally which are connected to high-speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31590/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra476. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to set out the number of premises in County Cork not connected to high-speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter- [31591/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra477. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to set out the number of premises in north-west County Cork not connected to high-speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31592/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra478. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to set out the number of premises nationally not connected to high-speed broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31593/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 472 to 478, inclusive, together.
The 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, 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 NBP. The Map is colour coded and searchable by address and 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 as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April 2017 and available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie.
The following table outlines the number of premises where access to a high speed broadband connection is, or will be, delivered by commercial operators (BLUE/LIGHT BLUE) and those where access to this vital service will be delivered under the State led intervention (AMBER).
|
County Name |
AMBER Premises within the NBP State Intervention Area |
BLUE Premises within Commercial Operator’s Area |
LIGHT BLUE Premises within eir's commercial rural deployment |
|
County Cork |
73,500 (28%) |
177,400 (66%) |
16,100 (6%) |
|
North West Cork |
20,900 (47%) |
18,200 (41%) |
5,300 (12%) |
|
Nationally |
540,000 (23%) |
1,600,000 (60%) |
160,000 (17%) |
Information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county is available on my Department’s website at the following link.
Data for Q1 2018 recently submitted by eir to my Department indicates that the company passed more than 145,000 premises nationwide as part of its planned rural deployment. Officials from my Department continue to meet with eir on monthly basis to review the company’s performance on their ongoing rural deployment project in line with their obligations under the April 2017 Commitment Agreement. eir has signalled that there would be likely knock-on effects to the 2018 milestone targets due to the severe weather impacts of both storms Ophelia and Emma. I have met with the senior management in eir and expressed to them the importance of implementing measures to catch up with milestone targets as a priority.
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.
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 at the following link.
