Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 95: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the degree to which high speed high quality broadband is available throughout the country at present; the areas still without service; the areas with service but which is deemed to be unreliable or below par by international standards; the degree to which plans over the past five years to provide service in all areas have been achieved; his plans to ensure 100% coverage throughout the entire country in the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10154/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 98: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if comparisons have been made between the telecommunications services available here and those available in other EU member states with particular reference to the quality and reliability of all such technology, wire and wireless and or satellite; if the costs in this country are competitive; if the customer receives a service equal in every way to that available in other EU member states; if the quality of mobile phone services has kept pace with such services throughout the European Union in terms of overall coverage, quality, reliability and costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10155/10]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 98 together.

The regulation of telecommunications service providers, including regulatory issues surrounding network coverage and quality is the responsibility of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), in accordance with its functions under the Communications Regulation Act 2002, as amended, and the EU Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications. The framework applies in all EU Member States.

The provision of telecommunications and broadband services is a matter for electronic communications service providers who operate in a fully liberated market, regulated by the ComReg. In cases of market failure the Government will intervene, where appropriate and possible.

Government policy pertaining to the electronic communications market in Ireland is set out in "Next Generation Broadband – Gateway to a Knowledge Ireland", which I published in June 2009.

There has been significant progress in broadband roll out and broadband quality over recent years. According to ComReg's latest Quarterly Report for Q3/2009, 68% of residential subscriptions in Ireland and 72% of non-residential subscriptions are in the 2 – 10 Mbps range. Only 21% of the non residential subscriptions and only 24% of the residential subscriptions are in the 1 – 2 Mbps range. Higher speeds, in some cases up to 50Mbps, are also available to residential and SME customers in urban areas. For example, speeds of up to 24Mbps are available from DSL providers, 50Mbps products are available from fibre operators and 20Mbps products are available from cable operators.

In terms of fixed and mobile broadband penetration Ireland now ranks 11th out of the EU 27 and is ahead of the EU 27 average. It is notable also that telecoms prices in Ireland have fallen 40% in real terms over the past decade.

The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband to those parts of the country where operators have been unable to offer service on a commercial basis. In the case of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), 3 is progressing its network roll-out and NBS broadband services are now available in almost half of the 1,028 designated Electoral Divisions (ED) to be covered under the Scheme. Under the NBS contract, all EDs in the NBS Coverage Area are required to have broadband connectivity by end September 2010.

It is accepted that even after the full roll-out of the NBS there will still be a small percentage of premises outside of the Electoral Divisions covered by the scheme that will not be capable of receiving broadband services. This is primarily due to technical and other reasons (suitability of a telephone line, distance from an enabled exchange, no line of sight etc.).

The European Commission has set aside a portion of the European Economic Recovery Plan (EERP) funding for rural broadband initiatives. In this context, my Department is currently considering the detailed design and implementation of a scheme which would utilise these funds to address the issue of broadband availability to unserved rural premises outside of the NBS areas.