Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 492: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress that has been made to deliver next generation broadband to this State; when broadband will be available to all that seek the service here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16425/08]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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My Department has prepared a Draft Policy Paper on Next Generation Broadband (NGB). It is intended that the paper will be finalised shortly and published for consultation. The paper will review current communications infrastructure policy and propose actions to promote the rollout of NGB policy. In this context it will address the optimum role for the Government in the planning and rollout of next generation broadband.

In February of this year I convened a meeting of the expert International Advisory Forum to examine the Paper. The Forum critiqued a draft of the NGB paper. The Forum members supported the broad trust of the document and have provided valuable feedback. They offered some additional recommendations and advice on the future trends of the telecommunications and ICT industries and proposed that certain suggestions be explored further. The draft paper is currently being updated to take account of the Forum's contribution and to reflect Inter-Departmental consultation. This will be finished shortly and I intend to then submit the paper to Government prior to publication.

I am confident that the published paper will set out a strong framework and accompanying actions to promote the rollout of NGB. This will enable us to build on the excellent recent progress, which has been made in the rollout of broadband generally. 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 included the provision of grant-aid under the Group Broadband Scheme (GBS) and ongoing investment in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs).

Although broadband is now widely available in Ireland there are still some parts of the country where the private sector will be unable to justify the commercial provision of broadband services. These areas are being addressed by the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), which will provide broadband services to areas that are currently unserved and will ensure that all reasonable requests for broadband are met.

The first phase of the NBS procurement process (Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)) is now complete, and four candidates pre-qualified to enter the next phase of the procurement process. Following the withdrawal of the IFA/Motorola Consortium as a candidate, the remaining three candidates are engaged in "Competitive Dialogue" with my Department and are finalising their proposed solutions to meet my Department's requirements for the delivery of broadband to the unserved areas of the country. It is anticipated that a preferred bidder will be selected in July 2008, with rollout to commence as soon as possible thereafter.