Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has overall policy responsibility for the national broadband plan. However, my Department, through the unit referred to by the Deputy, works closely with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and with local authorities to help prepare rural communities for the roll-out of high-speed broadband. The unit also supports the work of the mobile phone and broadband task force, in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The task force was established in 2016 to identify and overcome obstacles to mobile phone and broadband services. One of the key ways in which my Department supports the preparations for the roll-out of the national broadband plan and other telecommunications infrastructure is through the network of broadband officers located in each local authority. The broadband officers, who are co-funded by my Department, provide a vital point of contact for industry and the public regarding telecoms issues.

With regard to the mapping of black spots in mobile phone coverage, an invitation was issued in late 2017 to all local authorities to provide data on five or six prioritised local black spots, with a view to examining the potential for mapping mobile phone black spots in Ireland. The objective was not to compile a definitive list of black spots across the country, but to identify areas of immediate priority for the purposes of testing an approach to the mapping of black spots. While the exercise was informative, it was not comprehensive. Of the 31 local authorities, only 17 returned data to feed into the exercise. However, ComReg has recently published a national map of outdoor mobile phone coverage for 2G, 3G and 4G services for a range of providers. This map, which is available on ComReg’s website, shows the quality and prevalence of mobile phone coverage right across the country for each provider. It will prove to be a useful tool for consumers on the services available in their areas.

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