Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 June 2022
179. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the extent to which high-speed, modern broadband is being extended to all areas throughout the country; when this work is likely to be complete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28756/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra180. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if and when the various black spots between areas recently provided with broadband service are also likely to be provided with service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28757/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra181. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the areas throughout the country that are currently provided with high-speed modern broadband; the areas to which service is intended to be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28758/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra182. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if the provision of high-speed, modern broadband in all areas throughout the country is progressing without exception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28759/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 179 to 182, inclusive, together.
The 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. Premises in the AMBER area will be provided with high speed broadband through the State led Intervention, under the contract signed 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 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.
According to the most recent information available to my Department there are 2,459,983 premises in Ireland. Some 77% of these premises can avail of high-speed broadband from commercial operators. High-speed broadband is defined as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. The remaining 23% will have high-speed broadband made available to them through the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention ensuring that no premises is left behind regardless of their location.
In terms of the NBP State led intervention, the NBP roll out is a 7-year plan under the contract and deployment is due to be complete by the end of 2026. I am advised by NBI that as of 20 May 2022, over 327,600 premises have now been surveyed and over 175,300 premises are under construction or complete across 26 counties, demonstrating that the project is reaching scale. I am further advised that almost 67,700 premises are now available to order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 23 counties, with over 56,600 premises passed across 22 counties and available for immediate connection.
NBI has made recent improvements to their website to enhance the provision of information to Oireachtas members. NBI has now completed a suite of changes, creating a portal that will serve as a means for Oireachtas members to proactively search for information relevant to their county/local area. The portal provides an up-to-date picture of NBI’s deployment schedule across the 227 Deployment Areas in all 26 counties, including the status of the Deployment Areas located in Cavan and Monaghan. A particular county can be selected to view an update of the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. The dedicated webpage can be accessed here: www.nbi.ie. NBI also has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. As of 20 May 2022, 584 BCP sites have been installed by NBI and the high-speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for school BCPs. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/broadband-connection-points/.
My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high speed broadband, within the Intervention Area. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at https://nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/.
