Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 May 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

National Broadband Plan: Discussion

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As chairman of the mobile phone and broadband task force, I can inform the Deputy that we have been engaging in exactly what he talked about. We have made many changes. For instance, there is now single access to road-opening licences. A nationally applicable standard form may be accessed on a portal. There is also the question of the State assets. The OPW, ESB and all the relevant State agencies are involved in the task force to map the State assets available and determine how they may be used. TII has spent millions in the past couple of years retrofitting ducting along the motorways so it can be used as a shared service by all the communications providers. This has been happening since the task force was set up. There has been great progress made. I agree that, in the past, local authorities were working in their own silos and creating different rules and regulations. The elimination of development charges keeps the cost to the customer to a minimum. When we carry out in any town or city an infrastructural project that involves the replacement of water services or sewage systems, for example, we now bring in the broadband officer to ensure the infrastructure is future proofed so it will not have to be dug up again. There is an office in every local authority. We are also working with the providers of the masts in identifying the areas where there are black spots and making sure the masts put up are shared by all the communications providers. That is happening right now; it is the reality. Therefore, much of what Deputy Lawless referred to is being worked on.

In Mayo, the broadband officer has mapped all the existing duct work in every village and town and put the information on a portal and app so anybody can see it and use it if they need it. The service will be rolled out in every county. We are doing considerable work addressing the difficulties that have arisen. It is all in train. It is a question of preparing for the future. All the bidders who submitted a proposal for the national broadband plan said fibre to the home is the only solution.

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