Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the recent State of the Net report which described the north west as a broadband black spot; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23121/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband, is a matter for the private sector. Broadband service providers operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated, where appropriate, by the independent Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg.

The role of the Government is to formulate regulatory and infrastructure policies to facilitate the provision of high quality telecommunications services, by competing private sector service providers. I have reviewed the recent State of the Net report. I note the report's findings that the north west is behind most of the rest of the country in broadband take up. A rural lag is generally a feature across the EU and beyond, due to the private sector being unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband services in some rural areas.

My Department has undertaken initiatives to address the gaps in broadband coverage, including providing grant-aid under the recently concluded Group Broadband Scheme, the building of Metropolitan Area Networks and, more recently, the development of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS).

The NBS, for which the procurement process is underway, will provide broadband services to areas that are currently unserved and will ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband in unserved areas are met. My Department is anticipating that the award of the NBS contract will be Quarter 2 of 2008, with rollout of the services due to begin as soon as possible thereafter. This timeline is subject to negotiations with candidates during the competitive dialogue phase of the procurement process.