Dáil debates

Thursday, 9 May 2019

National Broadband Plan: Statements

 

2:45 pm

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Look at what they said. This is the option they preferred. They also expressed the view that we should go back to what was rejected in 2014, which was to deliver fibre to just 1,100 village points, again relying on the commercial sector to go beyond that. We did not accept that this would meet the requirements for rural Ireland.

On the issue of technology, we have had detailed evaluations both by ComReg and by our own Analysys Mason analyst, who came in to look at what was the best technology. Every one of the bidders came in with fibre to the premises as being the preferred and optimal technology. That is what is happening in urban Ireland; Eir is rolling out fibre to the premises, as are the others in urban Ireland. Fibre is the most future-proofed and the proof of the pudding is that we provided a minimum 300 Mbps as the delivery speed. When this is rolled out, by year ten it will have 500 Mbps. Fibre is the best at building capacity to meet new needs in the years ahead. By contrast, 5G and wireless depend on line of sight, so if one cannot reach the area, one has to keep building additional masts to get the penetration. Given that masts are shared, if more people come on, the capacity is shared and the service to each one is diluted. These options were analysed in great depth and that is why we have confidence in the choice that was made by the three bidders but also in terms of evaluating international experience to decide the best option for rural Ireland.

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