Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

5. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount of the roll-out of high speed broadband in rural areas that will be delivered by fibre wrapped cable on the electricity network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10594/15]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My question pertains to the potential for wrapped fibre on the electricity network as a means to deliver high-speed broadband to all parts of the country and not just areas covered by commercial operators.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising a question close to my own heart. The Government's national broadband plan aims to deliver a minimum high speed broadband service of 30 Mbps to every home and business in Ireland. This State intervention can be delivered over a number of different technology platforms and, in designing an intervention strategy and a procurement process, we must be mindful of complying fully with EU state aid guidelines by being technology neutral and not favouring one technology over another. These guidelines do, however, allow for fibre to be deployed as close to the end user as possible. Retail telecommunications providers would then be free to use a variety of technology platforms to reach the final customer. We also need to ensure that State investment delivers a network that can meet current and anticipated future demand. It must be capable of ensuring that there is no urban-rural digital divide and that rural based businesses and residents are not at a disadvantage compared with those in urban areas.

The planned intervention is being designed to deal conclusively with the rural connectivity challenge. The comprehensive mapping exercise we completed in late 2014 shows a clear fibre backhaul deficit in many parts of rural Ireland. This will need to be addressed in any intervention. The intention is to design a clear specification around the services we wish to see delivered and then allow the bidders to submit tenders based on their ability to meet these specification requirements.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I cannot avoid the conclusion that many parts of rural Ireland are going to be left with mobile broadband. One of the few good things the Government did was set out a legislative basis for using the electricity network to provide fibre wrapped broadband throughout the country. In respect of state aid rules, surely the Government could decide to provide a fibre wrapped network to every house and connection on the ESB network, which would then be made available to all the commercial operators. This would be similar to the way in which the Eircom network was unbundled. That option would ensure that the broadband deficit would be dealt with in a way that would give equal access to everybody in this country to the benefits of broadband. At this stage, speeds of 30 Mbps are nearly obsolete. We need to be looking at 100 Mbps or more to deliver an adequate broadband service. The only way of meeting this objective is by fibre wrapping the electricity network and subsequently opening it up to market forces, or whatever forces one wants, to provide the end service to consumers.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We have to get it right conclusively. The more than 60 towns that Eircom will be targeting and the 50 towns that ESB, along with Vodafone, will be working with in the initial stages of the plan comprise large urban areas. In rural areas, somebody employed by, for example, Pramerica in Letterkenny should be able to work from home in Malin Head or Killybegs. That is the critical issue. The national broadband plan aims to address areas in which commercial companies are not interested. It is not commercially viable to go into these areas. A potential solution, as Deputy Pringle correctly noted, is to wrap fibre around the ESB network.

However, the Government is constrained in what it can do because of EU guidelines and state intervention rules. Most of these rural areas have wireless broadband, so there are competition issues in terms of whether the State can go in and compete with another provider. We must be very clear in what we are doing and we must be technology neutral. The Deputy is correct that a potential option is wrapping fibre around the ESB network. That network goes to Arranmore Island, Tory Island and other peripheral areas. There is also the Eircom network, however, and the question then is which one to choose. Where we are at in the process is ensuring we are proceeding on a legally sound basis to deliver broadband, finally and conclusively, to rural areas. That is the challenge we face.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I certainly would not choose the Eircom network. I have looked at that company's plans for rolling out fibre to cabinet and I suspect that many people living close to the towns served will not actually receive an adequate service on that basis.

The Government can make a strategic decision to roll out fibre to every house in the country, at which point the service can be opened up to the markets by providing open access to the fibre and allowing them to compete as they choose. I cannot see any company opting to provide a fibre connection to Arranmore and Tory islands. That is a serious problem because the people living there are entitled to the same connectivity as everybody else. I do not accept that the Department is as constrained as the Minister of State has suggested in terms of being unable to pick one technology over another. We have to make all technologies available to people and they will decide which they want to access. That is what real competition is about, not deciding that because wireless is available in a particular area, the State will not compete with it. That is not competition; it is boxing off areas for the particular providers.

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is no question that we are constrained in the area of state-led interventions by EU rules and regulations. The Government cannot go into areas that are not viable from a commercial point of view and wrap fibre around a particular infrastructure of its choosing. There has been a lot of advice sought on this and a lot of legal advice given. As well as ESB and Eircom, any other provider, such as UPC, to give an example, can choose to compete. The process must be open to everybody, including wireless providers. It is not confined to those companies providing one particular technology. The firm advice we have been given is that we must be technology neutral.

The Deputy referred to the particular challenges that present in respect of the islands. I am very clear in my conversations with the officials that we should be treating all areas equally and ensuring we deliver to the most peripheral areas in the country, including the islands, even where they are not commercially viable.