Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The national broadband plan aims to deliver high-speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the delivery of the national broadband plan as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through private investment by commercial telecommunications companies and through a State intervention in areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated.

The Deputy refers in his question to the Switcher.ie report, which points out wide disparities between the levels of service available in different parts of the country. The national broadband plan aims to address these disparities and provide quality connectivity for everyone in every part of Ireland regardless of where he or she lives or works.

My Department is now in a formal procurement process to identify the entity or entities to build, roll out, operate and deliver high-speed broadband to all premises within the intervention area. The three bidders in the procurement process have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution for rural Ireland under the national broadband plan intervention. Householders and businesses may potentially be able to avail of speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps, with businesses potentially availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a solution that will endure for 25 years and beyond. It will also effectively remove the digital divide.

A Programme for a Partnership Government commits to measures to assist in the roll-out of the network once a contract is awarded. In this regard, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Humphreys, is leading the establishment of two regional action groups, working with local authorities, local enterprise offices and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural areas once the contract or contracts have been awarded.

In a further positive initiative, I established last July the mobile phone and broadband task force with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to address immediate issues relating to the quality of mobile phone and broadband coverage. I expect the task force to report in the coming weeks.

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