Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 10 February 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters

9:30 am

Mr. Peter Hendrick:

NBI’s profit ultimately comes from the revenue we generate from the network - the take-up of customers connecting to the network. We are a wholesale operator. We sell services to retail operators, which many consumers know in terms of their broadband, television or voice services. It is the connection of those end users whether it is homes or businesses, including farms, and the revenue we generate from those retail operators that connect those homes, where we generate our revenue and ultimately our profit. The profitability of the network is dependent on our operations costs versus the revenue we take in. The objective of this subsidy is entirely about building the infrastructure.