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National Broadband Plan

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 June 2020

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Ceisteanna (840, 841)

Martin Heydon

Ceist:

840. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the roll-out of the broadband connection points nationally and in County Kildare specifically; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9521/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Martin Heydon

Ceist:

841. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the roll-out of the national broadband plan in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9522/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 840 and 841 together.

The government is committed to delivering high speed broadband to every home, farm, business and school in Ireland.

The High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the areas in Kildare which will be included in the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led intervention as well as areas targeted by commercial operators. The Map is colour coded and searchable by address and Eircode.

- Premises in the AMBER area will be provided with high speed broadband through the State led Intervention, the contract for which was signed in November last with National Broadband Ireland (NBI).

- The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.

- The LIGHT BLUE area represents eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises, including Kildare, as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with my Department in April 2017.

County

AMBER

Premises within the NBP State Intervention Area

BLUE

Premises within Commercial Operator’s Area

LIGHT BLUE

Premises within eir's commercial rural deployment

Kildare

15%  (13,329)

85% (79,837)

<1% (260)

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. 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.  My Department continues to engage with NBI to explore the feasibility of accelerating aspects of this roll out.

Further information on deployment activities associated with the roll out can be found on the NBI 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, 8 are located in Kildare. This will assist communities to quickly get free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main NBP deployment. Proposed 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.

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