Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
2074. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when high speed broadband will be available at a location (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34185/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra2082. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when high speed broadband will be available at a location (detail supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34330/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 2074 and 2082 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, seven out of ten of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland have access to high speed broadband. By 2020, nine out of ten 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/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.
Both premises referred to in the Question are in an AMBER area on the High Speed Broadband Map. They are therefore included in the State Intervention Area under the NBP.
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.
For those premises currently awaiting access to high speed broadband, 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. The Department of Rural and Community Development maintain a list of broadband officers, a link to which is available on my Department's website at https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/communications/topics/Broadband/national-broadband-plan/Pages/NBP-Information-Leaflets.aspx.
