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

The Government has big ambition for providing fibre but none for mobile services. I am talking about establishing a shared rural network with all the operators on it. This would be complementary to the national broadband plan. Similar models are already operating in other markets such as the UK and Germany. In fact, such a shared rural network is currently being built out in Northern Ireland. The estimated cost of replicating that here would be between €30 million and €50 million. This is small money and would also slash the cost of the provision of an emergency Garda communications network, which must now be tendered for and a new separate network built. I ask the Government to reconsider this in the interests of putting an effective shared network in place that can provide for our emergency services and An Garda Síochána, as well as providing 5G coverage across the country.

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