John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 519: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the amount of funding granted to the ESB to provide a broadband network using the company's infrastructure; if the project is completed; the stage it is at; the overall cost of the project; the number of users it is hoped to serve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27140/09]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Under the Communications Infrastructure Programme of the National Development Plan 2000-2006, ESB Telecom (ESBT), and other service providers, responded to an open call for proposals for the roll out of electronic communications infrastructure. On 19 January 2001, the then Department of Public Enterprise entered into an Agreement with ESBT for the deployment of 1,300 kilometres of optical fibre cable around Ireland. The ESBT network comprises 48 optical fibre pairs and is wrapped on the electricity high voltage network.

Construction of the network was completed in 2003. The total cost of the project was €48.18m. The total Government investment in the project was €15.66m of which 50% was funded under the European Regional Development Fund. ESBT has strengthened competition in the market and are providing competitively priced managed bandwidth services and dark fibre to telecommunications service providers on a wholesale basis. The number of clients served by ESBT is an operational matter for the company.