Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 55: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the concerns over the speeds offered as part of the national broadband scheme; his views on whether the speeds offered will be a competitive disadvantage for rural businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10515/09]

Seán Power (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

As part of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) contract, 3 will deliver the following speeds:

Minimum download speed will be 1.2 Mbps while the maximum download speed will be 5Mbps and

Minimum upload speed will be 200Kbps while the maximum upload speed will be 1.8Mbps.

These speeds are comparable to what is currently available in the marketplace in urban areas. Additionally, the service will have a contention ratio of 36:1, a latency of 120 milliseconds and a 15 gigabyte (12 down, 3 up) inclusive monthly allowance limit.

Under the terms of the contract, the NBS broadband products will be upgraded to higher specifications (speeds, contention and data caps) in July 2010 and October 2012 without any increase in the monthly recurring charge.

In recognition of the fact that some areas will be very difficult to reach using standard infrastructure, 3 will make available a satellite product, which is expected to cover around 5% of the NBS areas. The satellite product will have a minimum download speed of 1Mbps, a minimum upload speed of 128kbps, a maximum contention ratio of 48:1, latency of 800 milliseconds and an 11 gigabyte (10 down, 1 up) inclusive monthly allowance limit.

The quality of the network will be monitored for the duration of the contract and upgrades of the network and network equipment are automatically triggered when contractually agreed levels of traffic are exceeded. These levels are set to ensure that the network is upgraded before traffic levels reach a level where quality degrades.

I am satisfied that the NBS will provide speeds comparable with products available in the market for urban areas and greatly assist in bridging the digital divide.