Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 November 2023
82. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to provide in tabular form, the number of premises connected to broadband under the National Broadband Ireland (NBI) roll-out in counties Roscommon and Galway; the number of customers who signed up to NBI in both counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49970/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn December 2022, my Department published Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy which supports the ambition outlined in the National Digital Strategy and sets out a number of ambitious targets, including that:
• all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028
• all populated areas will be covered by 5G no later than 2030, and
• digital connectivity will be delivered to all schools and broadband connection points by 2023
These targets will be achieved through commercial operators investing in their networks, complemented by the State’s National Broadband Plan intervention. When taken together, all premises in the State will have access to high-speed broadband in every part of the country no matter how remote.
Commercial operators’ fibre rollouts are progressing at pace. Open eir have already passed over 12,400 homes and businesses in County Roscommon with gigabit services, with plans to pass a further c. 6,400 homes and businesses over the next 2 – 3 years, bringing their total fibre-based investment in the county to over €11.5m. Other commercial operators are also continuing to increase their network footprint right across Roscommon, with SIRO recently passing over 1,570 premises for full fibre, and Virgin Media passing over 798 premises.
In County Galway, Open eir have already passed over 68,100 homes and businesses in with gigabit services, with plans to pass a further c. 33,000 homes and businesses over the next 2 – 3 years, bringing their total fibre-based investment in the county to over €50m. Other commercial operators are also continuing to increase their network footprint right across Galway, with SIRO recently passing over 32,300 premises for full fibre, and Virgin Media passing over 38,300 premises.
The National Broadband Plan intervention contract provides for the roll out of a high speed and future-proofed broadband network to primarily rural areas. The intervention area covers over 1.1 million people living and working in over 560,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools.
I am also advised by NBI that, as of 03rd November 2023, 196,243 premises are passed across 26 counties and available for immediate connection. 58,931 premises are already connected to the NBP high-speed broadband network
As of 31st October, 10,092 premises in County Roscommon are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection with 2,670 premises now connected. 16,510 premises in County Galway are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and available for immediate connection with 5,203 premises now connected.
Commercial operators and NBI will continue work in Counties Roscommon and Galway, and all counties, over the next three years to complete their fibre rollouts and all efforts are bring made to speed up to the rollout. My Department is working hard with Local Authorities to ensure any barriers encountered by these operators are dealt with quickly through day to day engagement and through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Task force.
Further details are available on specific areas within Counties Roscommon and Galway and can be monitored via nbi.ie/reps. A county update can be selected to provide the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed and connected to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
Recent ComReg data shows that Quarter 2 of 2023 saw a 7.4% increase in fibre broadband subscriptions compared to the first 3 months of the year, and a 33.7% increase when compared to Quarter 2 of 2022. This demonstrates that take-up of fibre connectivity for homes and businesses is increasing substantially as it is deployed to areas where it had previously been unavailable. The same ComReg data also indicates that c. 40% of homes and business throughout the State now have access to gigabit services through either fibre (576,856) or cable (359,669) infrastructure.
