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

The Deputy is fully correct and this is my challenge as Minister. I am taking a number of actions. I am assisting the likes of eir, SIRO, Vodafone and Virgin with the roll-out of their networks and we have addressed a number of physical blockages to it. We have released the 3.6 GHz spectrum and it will be auctioned early in the new year. This will assist the likes of Imagine and other wireless operators to improve the coverage and services they provide in rural Ireland. We will publish the details of the mobile phone and broadband task force within the next couple of weeks. This will deal with the roll-out of 4G and 3G broadband. I am engaged in trying to use the capacity within the metropolitan area networks to try to release them and improve the quality of broadband in the towns where the network is in place. I am engaged with some of the commercial companies to see how we can fast-track the roll-out of their networks in rural areas. The final piece in the jigsaw is the national broadband plan. We are determined to pursue it and roll the network out as quickly as we can as soon as the contracts are signed.

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