National Broadband Plan

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 July 2020

Wednesday, 15 July 2020

Ceisteanna (115, 116, 118)

James Browne

Ceist:

115. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of broadband connection points in County Wexford. [16072/20]

Brendan Smith

Ceist:

116. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of broadband connection points in counties Cavan and Monaghan. [16077/20]

Pádraig O'Sullivan

Ceist:

118. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the roll-out of broadband connection points in County Cork. [16081/20]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Rural and Community Development

I propose to take Questions Nos. 115, 116 and 118 together.

In November 2019, National Broadband Ireland was awarded the contract to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to almost 540,000 premises across the State, predominantly in rural areas. This project will be implemented on a rolling basis; however, the BCP initiative is designed to bring a measure of connectivity to remote and isolated areas ahead of the completion of the National Broadband Plan roll out.

BCPs are typically publicly accessible buildings such as community centres, sports clubs and libraries. Approximately 300 BCPs will be provided with a wireless high speed broadband connection over the next twelve months which will make free on-site internet connectivity available to the public.

To date, more than 70 BCPs across the country have been provided with an initial backhaul connection by National Broadband Ireland, including sites in counties Cork and Wexford. Sites in counties Cavan and Monaghan are scheduled for installation later this month. Over the coming weeks, Vodafone, as the internet service provider, will also begin installing their public access equipment at each site which will enable the BCPs to “go live”.

BCP locations are listed by county on National Broadband Ireland’s website at https://nbi.ie/bcp-locations/. It should be noted that some BCP sites may change over time as commercial connectivity becomes more widespread or as the circumstances at each site change. In such cases, the BCP list will be updated accordingly.