James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 419: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when an acceptable level of broadband will be rolled out in the Ballymore area, County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9521/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland's telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999 and thus the delivery of broadband services is a matter, in the first instance, for private sector commercial operators which are licensed and regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband to those parts of the country where operators have been unable to offer services on a commercial basis. In the case of one such intervention, namely the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), services are available since October 2010 from the NBS service provider, 3, to persons with a fixed residence or fixed business in each of the 1,028 Electoral Divisions (ED) designated to be covered under the Scheme. This includes the area of Ballymore, Co. Westmeath.

My Department and its external consultants actively monitor coverage within the NBS areas. The NBS contract guarantees service levels and imposes a service credit regime on "3" with financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. Any NBS customer experiencing problems with the NBS service can contact 3's customer care centre 24 hours a day 7 days a week by phone at 1913 (free of charge) or by email to nbssupport@three.ie. Additionally, a team of field engineers has been established to address NBS specific maintenance issues at customer's premises.

My Department has a role when customers have fully utilised the established complaints process. It operates a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at nationalbroadbandscheme@dcenr.gov.ie with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service.

As regards future broadband initiatives, the Government accepts that the widespread availability of high speed broadband is a key requirement in delivering future economic and social development. With basic broadband services now widely available across Ireland, the challenge is to accelerate the roll out of high speed services. The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce, which I convened last summer, has an important role to play in this regard. It comprises the CEOs of all of the major telecommunications companies operating in the Irish market, as well as CEOs of some other companies that provide broadband services. The Taskforce will conclude its deliberations shortly. I intend to consider the findings and recommendations of the report of the Taskforce as quickly as possible and to make a submission to Government in this regard. It is my objective to move quickly thereafter to put in place the optimal policy environment for the delivery of high speed broadband.