Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 210: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he proposes to take initiatives to ensure the availability of high speed broadband in all areas throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29185/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 211: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans for the development of broadband and the information and technology sector throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29186/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 and 211 together.

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.

The widespread provision of broadband services continues to be a priority for the Government. In that regard my Department has undertaken initiatives to address the gaps in broadband coverage. These include providing grant-aid under the recently concluded Group Broadband Scheme and investment in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). There are still some parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband services. Accordingly, the procurement process for a National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is under way. The NBS will provide broadband services to areas that are currently unserved and will ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband in unserved areas are met.

The NBS aims to provide basic broadband services to rural regions. The requirement is to provide a minimum 1MB service, which is currently a typical product on the Irish market. It is intended that product specifications will evolve during the contract period to reflect trends in the broadband market. Financial modelling has been undertaken to establish the estimated cost of the scheme. I am not making the figure public as to do so could influence the negotiation process with the candidates.

The first phase of the procurement process, the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) phase, is now complete and four candidates have pre-qualified. As my Department indicated on 2 September, the four candidates are, in alphabetical order, BT Communications Ireland Ltd Consortium, eircom Ltd, Hutchinson 3G Ireland Ltd and IFA/Motorola Consortium. The next phase of the procurement process involves inviting candidates to participate in a competitive dialogue process. My Department is anticipating that the award of the NBS contract will be in the second quarter of 2008, with roll out 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.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when he expects the availability of broadband here to compare with its availability in other EU states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29187/07]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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There were 653,000 broadband subscribers (excluding mobile) in Ireland at end of quarter two of 2007 according to official figures from the Commission for Communications Regulation ComReg. Additionally, there were 45,000 mobile broadband subscribers in Ireland at the end of June 2007 giving a total of 698,000 subscribers. The 698,000 figure represents a penetration rate of 15.4 subscribers per 100 of population.

Ireland's growth in broadband penetration is encouraging. Last week's report from the OECD shows that we have the strongest per capita subscriber growth in the OECD. Moreover, Ireland has narrowed the gap behind the EU average. At the end of Quarter 2 06 the EU-25 average was 14 subscribers per 100 of population and our rate was 8 subscribers. At the end of Quarter 2 07, the EU-25 Average was 18.2 subscribers per 100 of population and our rate was at 15.4. If the estimated 45,000 mobile broadband subscribers are included, then the penetration figure increases to 16.48 subscribers. It might be noted that the OECD assessment understates Ireland's competitive position as regards broadband access due to the larger size of households in Ireland.