Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 June 2020
821. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when high-speed broadband will be available to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9039/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra833. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when high-speed broadband will be made available to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9325/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 821 and 833 together.
The government is committed to delivering high speed broadband to every home, farm, business and school in Ireland.
The Questions refer to premises in Kerry which are located in the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led Intervention, the contract for which was signed in November last with National Broadband Ireland (NBI). Further detail on the locations included in the National Broadband Plan are available on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie.
All counties will see premises passed in the first 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband within the next four years. The NBP network will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 150Mbps from the outset. By the end of next year, NBI plans to pass in the region of 115,000 premises, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until rollout is completed. My Department continues to engage with NBI to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of the roll out.
Up to date information regarding deployment activities is available on National Broadband Ireland’s website www.nbi.ie.
To support remote working and connected communities, approximately 300 Broadband Connections Points (BCPs) were identified by Local Authorities to be connected to high speed broadband this year. This will assist communities to quickly get free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main NBP deployment. The planned BCP locations, including schools, library hubs, local sports facilities and other public places are available to view on the High Speed Broadband Map on the Department’s website www.broadband.gov.ie. The BCP delivery project is well underway and surveying of the BCP locations is progressing which will facilitate detailed design and installation. BCP locations are subject to change and a number of the premises initially identified are in the process of being replaced with alternative locations. The remaining BCPs remain on track for delivery by the end of 2020.
The BCPs in identified public places will leverage the high speed broadband connection through a range of measures and initiatives, for example providing free public Wi-Fi, some will also have hot-desks, and some will be digital hub business centres where digital training, business information events and other SME supports are organised.
