Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress of the Government's working group set up to ensure new buildings will have open-access fibre connections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37798/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The provision of high speed broadband connectivity as a critical element in the development of a competitive Smart Economy and inclusive Knowledge Society is a policy priority. My Department's policy in this area is set out in the paper "Next Generation Broadband – Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland", 2009. One of the actions in this Paper was the requirement for new premises to have open access fibre connections installed, where practicable.

A working group has been set up comprising officials from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) and my own Department to examine a range of practical issues that needs to be addressed to progress this action.

As part of this process, officials from my Department have drafted technical recommendations and have held a pre-consultation with relevant stakeholders. A full consultation with the construction industry and relevant stakeholders will take place in November with a view to finalising a set of actions over the coming months.

Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 82: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the steps he will take to ensure that minimum contractual speeds within the national broadband scheme are achieved; if he is satisfied that minimum contractual speeds are being achieved at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37794/10]

Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 99: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide an update on the national broadband scheme; the cost of the scheme to date and the overall expected cost; when the project is set for completion; the maximum and minimum speeds expected for this scheme; the way he is monitoring the speeds that are being achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37799/10]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 104: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is confident that persons receiving broadband through the national broadband scheme are experiencing minimum speeds; the way the minimum speeds are monitored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37788/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 99 and 104 together.

My Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) in late December 2008. Since then, 3 has progressed its network rollout and NBS broadband services are now available in all of the 1,028 designated Electoral Divisions (ED) to be covered under the Scheme. The NBS contract remains in place until August 2014.

The total current and capital cost of the full rollout of the NBS has been estimated by "3" at some €223m, of which a maximum of €79.8m will be contributed by the Government and the EU.

The contribution by the Government and the EU to date under the Scheme amounts to some €58m.

Under the contract, the NBS mobile wireless broadband service was upgraded to higher specifications (speeds, contention and data caps) in July 2010, without any increase in the monthly recurring charge. Currently, NBS subscribers can experience speeds ranging from a minimum download speed of 1.6Mbps to a maximum download speed of 6.8Mbps, a minimum upload speed of 1.2Mbps to a maximum upload speed of 4Mbps, with a maximum contention ratio of 22:1. The data cap has increased to 25GB.

The satellite product, deployed in a very limited number of cases, has contracted minimum speeds of 1Mbps download and 128kbps upload, with a maximum contention ratio of 48:1 and with a data cap of 11GB.

Following a further contract upgrade in October 2012, NBS subscribers will experience minimum download speeds of 2.3Mbps and maximum download speed of 10.4Mbps, minimum upload speeds of 1.4Mbps and maximum upload speed of 4.8Mbps, with a maximum contention ratio of 18:1. The data cap will increase to 40GB.

Similarly, following contracted upgrades to the satellite product in July 2012 and again in February 2014, minimum download speeds of 1.6Mbps and 2Mbps respectively, together with a minimum upload speed of 256Kbps and a maximum contention ratio of 48:1, will apply, with the data cap remaining at 11GB.

My Department has put in place robust monitoring arrangements to ensure that the NBS network delivers the minimum specified service or better to all users. Performance delivery data, which is submitted to my Department on a monthly basis or as required, is critically analysed by independent technical consultants, Analysys Mason Ltd.

The monitoring arrangements provide information on a wide range of key indicators including the broadband excess availability in each cell of the network, the number of customers resident in that cell and actual contention and latency values. Utilisation thresholds are set for each element of the network and upgrades of the network and its capacity are automatically triggered at contractually agreed levels of traffic to ensure that the quality of the broadband service is maintained.

In addition, a sample selection of customers is monitored for quality on a monthly basis. Download and upload speeds are sampled at a number of locations monthly to ensure that minimum speeds are met or exceeded.

The NBS contract guarantees service levels and imposes a service credit regime on "3" with significant financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. The contract also provides for independent monitoring and audit at any stage during the contract with a view to verifying that the services are being provided in accordance with the contract.

I can confirm that 3's I-HSPA network which is used to deliver the NBS is designed and dimensioned to ensure that the network delivers the minimum contracted service, or better to all NBS users. Performance monitoring reports, including customer experience data, confirms this to be the case.

Based on the analysis of monitoring reports for I-HSPA and satellite, I can confirm that the average user has been able to receive download and upload speeds in excess of the minimum requirements. This level of service delivery is supported by the sampling of customer experience and the speed sampling.

On the basis of the information provided to my Department, I am satisfied that the specified service levels required under the NBS contract are being met.