Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The national broadband plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high-quality, high-speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State-led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided. The commercial telecommunications sector is currently investing approximately €2.5 billion in network upgrades and enhanced services. These very significant investments represent a step-change in the quality of broadband services available.

Last November, I published a national high-speed coverage map for 2016. This map is available at the broadband website. The areas marked blue represent those areas that will have access to commercial high-speed broadband services. The amber areas show the target areas for the State intervention. All premises within the amber areas will be included in the State's intervention.

The map allows all members of the public, be they business or residential, to see whether their premises or home will have access to commercial high-speed broadband services by the end of 2016 or whether they will be included in the Government's proposed intervention. The high-speed map contains a breakdown of premises covered per townland.

It is anticipated that there will be speeds of at least 30 Mbps. I emphasise that it is at least 30 Mbps because occasionally this is misreported or misunderstood as being up to 30 Mbps. It is not up to 30 Mbps but speeds of a minimum of 30 Mbps will also be delivered through the Government's intervention and the network will be designed to cater for future increased demand from consumers and business. In other words, it will be future-proofed. Consumers can also consult the websites of the various commercial operators to ascertain details of current and future deployment plans.

Meanwhile, my Department continues to review the technical and financial detail relating to potential new commercial investment proposals. As I indicated earlier, I expect to proceed to formal procurement before the end of the year. The Government is determined to ensure that the network is built out as quickly as possible and engagement with industry stakeholders has indicated that this could be achieved within three to five years of the contract award. Some 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high-speed services by 2018 with 100% coverage by 2020.

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