Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 78 together.

The role of the Government is to formulate regulatory and infrastructure policies to facilitate the provision of high quality telecommunications services by competing private sector service providers. The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that regard my Department has undertaken initiatives to address the gaps in broadband coverage. These included providing grant aid under the group broadband scheme and ongoing investment in metropolitan area networks.

There are still some parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband services. Accordingly, the procurement process for a national broadband scheme, NBS, is under way. The NBS will provide broadband services to areas that are currently unserved and will ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband are met. Homes and premises that are more difficult to reach are also being examined and potential solutions are being considered. Consequently, it is expected that all homes and premises in currently unserved areas will be offered a broadband service.

The first phase of the procurement process — the pre-qualification questionnaire — is now complete and four candidates pre-qualified to enter the next phase of the procurement process. The four candidates were, in alphabetical order: BT Communications Ireland Limited Consortium, Eircom Limited, Hutchinson 3G Ireland Limited, and IFA-Motorola Consortium.

Following the withdrawal of the IFA-Motorola Consortium as a candidate, the remaining three candidates participated in competitive dialogue with my Department and are developing their proposed solutions to meet my Department's requirements for the delivery of broadband to the unserved areas of the country. It is anticipated that a preferred bidder will be selected and appointed in July 2008, with roll-out to commence as soon as possible thereafter.

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