Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The national broadband plan aims to ensure every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. In tandem with commercial developments, intensive work is under way in my Department to progress a State-led investment to secure the country-wide introduction of next generation broadband access.

On 24 November last, a public consultation process on a national high speed coverage map, 2016 was launched. The map can be accessed at . It allows all members of the public to see whether their premises or home will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention. The coverage map was produced following an intensive engagement between my Department and the industry.

The intervention area includes over 700,000 premises. Eircom recently announced an investment that may address a further 300,000 with fibre-to-the-premises technology. My Department will be rigorously examining the assurances from eircom concerning these new plans, which is a requirement for all operators, and will review how this impacts on the proposed intervention area, the so-called amber area..

The publication of the coverage map and consultation are necessary to ensure the State intervention does not compete with commercial high speed broadband services as required under EU State aid guidelines. The publication of the aforementioned map was required under the same guidelines. Formal notification will be made after consultation on the intervention strategy is completed later this year. In the meantime, the Department continues to liaise closely with the EU Directorate General for Competition on a range of issues related to the strategy and we are on target to submit pre-notification to the directorate over the summer period.

Intensive design and planning work is under way in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy for the amber area. Following a public consultation process on the draft intervention strategy this summer, I hope to move to the formal procurement phase towards the end of the year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders. I expect the physical build of the network to begin in late 2016 and it will take between three and five years to fully complete, depending on the details of the bid or bids selected.

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