Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 October 2019
74. Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to sign the contract for the complete roll-out of fibre to the home; and the timeline for delivering the plan to rural areas such as County Donegal (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42157/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government Decision of 7 May 2019 means that it is intended to award the State Intervention contract to the final Bidder. This award is subject to contract close. The finalisation of financial closure and legal requirements are progressing towards contract award before the end of year.
The Bidder has indicated that the rollout of the NBP network will take an estimated 7 years to complete. The Bidder will publish a deployment plan after the contract is signed.
In the first year of roll out, approximately 300 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) will be deployed across all counties and between 7 and 23 BCPs will be deployed in each county. BCPs will provide a community based high speed broadband service, allowing for the establishment of digital work hubs in these locations.
The Bidder is aiming to pass 133,000 premises by the end of the second year, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until roll out is completed.
With reference to County Donegal specifically, the following table indicates the most up to date statistics for the county (Q2 2019):
|
County Name |
Premises within the NBP Intervention Area |
Premises within Commercial Operator’s Area |
Premises within eir planned rural deployment |
|
Donegal |
34,180 (33.48%) |
66,800 (65.44%) |
1,085 (1.06%) |
The Deputy refers to premises in Donegal that are in proximity to eir’s high speed broadband deployment and that cannot avail of a service. This deployment is part of eir’s investment in high speed broadband to 300,000 largely rural premises, under a Commitment Agreement signed with my Department in 2017.
While eir’s rural investment in high speed broadband services is an entirely commercial decision, in which I have no function, I fully understand the frustration of householders that are waiting for a quality broadband service. This underlines the need to start rollout of the National Broadband Plan’s broadband network as quickly as possible, so that all businesses and citizens can avail of the benefits of a high speed broadband service.
