Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 8 October 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Mobile Telephone Coverage and High Speed Broadband Availability: Discussion

10:50 am

Mr. Fergal Mulligan:

We would not be able to give exact dates. We will be able to give indicative dates. The procurement process will start in 2015 and we will have to appoint a company or companies to build it. Within the tender process those companies, which are the experts in building networks, will tell us how they can get from Donegal to Cork and in what order they can address that market. Someone will have to build a network in every county in Ireland, which will be a logistical challenge in its own right. At some point in the very near future we will have a fairly high level but reasonably clear window regarding how long this will take, and by the time we award the contract, it will be very precise and will be on a website showing where it is going and the date it will arrive.