John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 417: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his plans to complete the roll-out of broadband coverage nationwide; his proposals for a new national broadband scheme; the reason for its superseding the group broadband scheme; the way the new national broadband scheme will succeed where the group broadband scheme did not; the reassurance he can offer those who live in rural areas who are concerned by the group broadband scheme being discontinued; when there will be one hundred per cent nationwide broadband coverage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5230/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter in the first instance for the private sector companies operating in a fully liberalised market, regulated by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

The facilitation of broadband coverage across the entire county continues to be a key priority. I am aware that, despite Government and private investment in broadband, there are areas of the country where the private sector is unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband connectivity. Accordingly, I recently announced a new scheme which will aim to provide a broadband service to these areas. This Scheme, which will supersede the Group Broadband Scheme, will, when it is fully rolled out, ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband from houses and premises in rural areas are met. A Steering Group comprising officials from my Department and ComReg is currently considering all elements of the proposed scheme and work on the design of an appropriate tender will commence in the coming weeks. This scheme will be confined to areas of the country that are not yet served by any broadband service provider, currently thought to be 10-15% of the population.

My decision to supersede the GBS with the new National Broadband Scheme (NBS) was based on the following factors:

Firstly, rollout of a GBS project depended on the local community taking the initiative. Without local initiative, a project could not proceed. Under the NBS, the selected Service Provider(s) will be required to meet all reasonable requests for broadband by a specified date;

Additionally, the NBS will deliver a service in all areas that are currently unserved, provided the cost of meeting the request is reasonable. It would not be appropriate to implement competing schemes targeting unserved areas;

Furthermore, the uptake of the GBS was less than anticipated. Just over 7,200 subscribers out of a possible 90,000 subscribers actually availed of a GBS broadband service. The population covered by the GBS schemes is estimated to be around 400,000 people. While most of the GBS projects that were rolled out were very effective the relatively low number of subscribers did not meet expectations and a more effective scheme is now required.

Finally, if both schemes were allowed to run simultaneously each could undermine the effectiveness of the other. Simultaneous running of both schemes could also give rise to double subsidisation.

For these reasons, I decided to proceed with the NBS. Accordingly, there will not be any new call for proposals under the GBS.