Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 March 2021
89. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the number of households per county not in the intervention area of the national broadband plan who have contacted the Department unable to get high speed broadband from service providers in the area. [11805/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie, shows the areas 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. The BLUE area represents those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. My Department defines high speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. The activities of commercial operators delivering high speed broadband within BLUE areas are not planned or funded by the State and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that regard. There may be a choice of operators offering this service in any given area and further information in this regard is available at www.comreg.ie/compare/#/services.
My Department receives a high volume of queries on the National Broadband Plan which cover a range of issues including those premises in BLUE areas which are experiencing broadband difficulties. Queries are dealt with on a case by case basis and the specific information sought in the Question is not available.
Complaints about service provision are a matter between the consumer and the service provider in the first instance. If this avenue has been exhausted without a satisfactory resolution, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) may be able to assist further. ComReg is the independent body that issues licences to broadband service providers and investigates complaints to make sure that companies are delivering services in line with their licence obligations.
In the event that, having exhausted the above options, a premises located in the BLUE area still cannot get high speed broadband from service providers in the area, they should contact my Department at broadband@decc.gov.ie with full details and the matter will be investigated by my officials. The NBP High Speed Broadband Map is dynamic. This means that the intervention area can be updated to reflect new commercial plans, or previous plans that have failed to materialise. This flexibility allows for an increase or decrease in the number of premises included in the State Intervention area.
