Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 5 June 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

National Broadband Plan: Discussion

Ms Michele Connolly:

I would not necessarily agree with the Deputy's assessment of the balance of risk. At the time that we received the detailed submissions from both parties, the contract, which is where the risk transfer is outlined, had been the subject of extensive negotiations with both Eir and Granahan McCourt. That contract provides for the transfer of significant risk around deployment, particularly around the timing of how long it is going to take for deployment to be delivered. It transfers significant risk around the demand that there will be and the level of revenue that will come in from customers on this project. It transfers significant risk around the technology and around the repairs and the renewals that are required to keep this network up and running and, in particular, to futureproof that network. The contract, as it stands, transfers all of that risk across to the private sector bidder.

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