Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 268: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on the announcement in Northern Ireland that full broadband access will be made available to rural and remote communities in the immediate term; and if he will make a statement on the roll-out of broadband in this jurisdiction. [23839/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The telecommunications sectors in both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland are fully liberalised but regulated, by ComReg in the Republic and by OFCOM in Northern Ireland. While private sector broadband infrastructure is currently more extensive in Northern Ireland and the percentage of broadband subscribers is higher, the gap continues to narrow. My Department and Northern Ireland's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment are jointly implementing the €7.5 million, EU supported, INTERREG IIIa initiative, which is funding a number of projects to improve broadband connectivity in border areas.

Broadband subscriber numbers have increased hugely in the last year. Almost 140,000 new broadband subscribers were added in 2005, a growth rate of 103% in 2005. This compares to 100,000 new broadband subscribers in 2004. The latest ComReg quarterly report states there are 270,700 broadband subscribers as of end-2005. This is equivalent to 6.6% of the population. ComReg estimate that there are 320,000 subscribers to the end of the first quarter of 2006.

Home Internet penetration figures currently stand at 18.7% of households. DSL dominates the Irish broadband market (75% market share). However, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and cable are growing very strongly, albeit from a small base.

The Government is addressing the infrastructure deficit in the regions by building high-speed, open-access Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) in 120 towns and cities nationwide. Phase One of this Programme has delivered fibre optic networks to 27 towns and cities throughout the country.

This Programme has been extended to over 90 towns in various locations nationwide. It is expected that these MANs will be completed during 2006 and 2007. These networks will allow the private sector to offer world-class broadband services at competitive costs.

My Department also offers funding assistance for smaller towns and rural communities through the County and Group Broadband Scheme. The scheme is technology-neutral, allowing the community to select the most suitable broadband delivery platform for the area. To date, over 150 projects have been approved for funding under this Programme.

Furthermore, a joint industry/Government fund of €18 million has been established for the Broadband for Schools Programme, which should provide every school in the country with broadband in 2006. This is a crucial strand in the strategy of integrating ICT into teaching and learning, and my Department's wider vision of promoting the use of broadband technologies in local communities around the country. The installation phase is now almost complete, with over 90% of all schools broadband enabled.

Today there are 68 broadband providers, a mixture of DSL, fixed wireless, satellite and cable, offering almost 300 different types of broadband products. Wireless broadband technology is improving rapidly, and the lowering of equipment prices has made this technology much more attractive of late especially in rural areas that cannot obtain ADSL connectivity, and the development of Wi-Max offers considerable potential in the future.