Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government's national broadband plan aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring high speed broadband services, comparable with high speed services available across the European Union, are available to all citizens and businesses. This is being achieved by providing a policy and regulatory framework to accelerate and incentivise commercial investment and a State-led intervention in areas where it is not commercial for the market to invest.

Since publication of the plan, investments by the commercial sector are under way and, in some instances, have been accelerated in both fixed-line and wireless high speed broadband services. Commercial operators, combined, have either invested, or committed to invest, over €2 billion in their Irish networks, delivering high speed broadband to homes and businesses. For example, eircom is rolling out a €400 million investment offering broadband speeds of up to 100 Mbps - the service is already available to over 800,000 addresses, with planned coverage to reach 1.4 million addresses by 2016; UPC has invested over €500 million in upgrading its cable network - over 700,000 homes can already access minimum broadband speeds of 120 Mbps and up to 200 Mbps, while businesses can access speeds of 500 Mbps; the ESB is engaged in a new project allowing a fibre network to be rolled-out on its existing electricity infrastructure - the company plans to establish a joint venture company to construct a fibre network directly to 450,000 premises outside Dublin; mobile operators have launched 4G high speed mobile broadband services and continue to invest in 3G services; fixed wireless operators are continuing to invest in high speed point to point wireless broadband; and the broadcaster Sky has entered the broadband market, increasing choice for consumers.

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Of the estimated 2.3 million premises in Ireland, approximately 1.4 million are expected to be served by these commercial next generation broadband services in the coming years at speeds comparable with those marketed across the European Union. The retail prices are set by service providers in open market conditions. While these commercial developments are welcome, the acceleration of investment is largely contained to cities and towns. On 25 April I signalled the Government's commitment to a major telecommunications network build-out to rural Ireland, with fibre as the foundation of its investment under the national broadband plan. This commitment is a clear expression of the Government's determination to address the connectivity challenge in rural Ireland in a meaningful and sustainable way.

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