Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 35: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the steps he will take to provide broadband access outside the main urban centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6365/11]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband services, is a matter in the first instance for private sector service providers operating in a liberalised market regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). The telecommunications market in Ireland has been fully liberalised since 1999 and, since then, has seen the steady growth and development of vibrant well-regulated competition in the provision of the full range of telecommunications products and services.

The Government is not a player in this market and can only intervene in cases of market failure. Such interventions, as in the case of the National Broadband Scheme, are subject to State Aid clearance by the EU Commission. Under the NewERA proposals in the Programme for Government there is a commitment for NewERA to co-invest with the private sector and commercial Semi State sector to provide Next Generation Broadband to every home and business in the State. Consideration of how best to advance the NewERA proposals, for which my colleague Minister of State O'Dowd has specific responsibility, is being advanced by my Department with other stakeholders across Government. The State has already intervened, with EU approval, to invest in improving broadband access to areas outside of urban centres. Accordingly my Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) in late December 2008.

This targeted State intervention was aimed at addressing rural areas where broadband services were unlikely to be available due to reluctance on the part of commercial operators to invest because of uncertain financial returns. The NBS network has now been completed and services have been available in all 1028 Electoral Divisions since October 2010, in line with contractual commitments. The NBS contract remains in place until August 2014. However, despite Government and private investment in broadband, I am aware that there continues to be isolated cases of premises throughout the country that are not capable of receiving a broadband service. This is primarily due to technical and other reasons (e.g., suitability of a telephone line, distance from an enabled exchange, or no 'line of sight' from the premises to the wireless base station). The European Commission has set aside a portion of the European Economic Recovery Programme (EERP) funding for rural broadband initiatives.

Using this funding, which will be augmented by an Exchequer contribution, I intend to formally announce the launch of a Rural Broadband Scheme in the coming weeks. This scheme will aim to provide a basic broadband service to individual unserved rural premises outside of the NBS areas. There will be a competitive process to engage a service provider who will offer a broadband service to qualified applicants under the scheme. While the exact details have yet to be finalised, I expect that the service offered under this scheme would at least match the service offered under the NBS and that the scheme will be fully rolled out by the end of 2012. The combination of private sector investment, the NBS and the Rural Broadband Scheme should ensure broadband coverage for effectively the full country.