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

I thank Deputy Dooley for his question. The Government's national broadband plan, NBP, will provide high-speed broadband access to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. That investment has meant that, to date, approximately 1.4 million, or 61 %, of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland can get high-speed broadband of a minimum of 30 Mbps.  In April, I signed a commitment agreement with Eir to roll out broadband to an additional 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis.  Eir has committed to concluding this work over the next 85 weeks at an average of one premises being passed every minute of every of every working day.  By the end of 2018, therefore, I expect that 77 % of premises will get high-speed broadband from commercial service providers.

A formal procurement process is under way to select a company or companies that will roll out a new high-speed broadband network within the State intervention area, which comprises approximately 540,000, or 23%, of premises.

The timeframe for the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement teams and bidders during the procurement process. During the Department's extensive stakeholder consultations in 2015, telecommunications service providers indicated a three to five year timeframe to roll out a network of the scale envisaged under the national broadband plan, once contracts are in place.

Shorter term measures to enhance broadband availability, particularly in rural Ireland, are included in the report of the mobile phone and broadband taskforce. I have also signed regulations allowing ComReg to proceed with a 2017 allocation of spectrum in the 3.6 GHz radio spectrum band. This will provide an 86% increase in the total spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless services. In addition, I have secured an €8 million provision in 2017 for RTE to allow it to commence work to free up the 700 MHz spectrum band which is particularly suited to rural environments. These initiatives should assist in enhancing the quality of mobile phone and data services across Ireland and particularly in rural Ireland. My Department's website, www.dccae.ie, and www.broadband.gov.ieprovide comprehensive information including broadband roll-out per county, a copy of the Eir commitment agreement and information on the mobile phone and broadband taskforce.

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