Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 321: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans regarding the provision of rural broadband services to those that may not have availed of registration under last year's RBS; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12277/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland's telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999 and thus the delivery of broadband services is a matter, in the first instance, for private sector commercial operators. The State only intervenes in cases of clear market failure, such as in the cases of both the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) and the Rural Broadband Scheme (RBS). Any such State intervention is subject to EU State Aid scrutiny to ensure that it does not give rise to an unacceptable level of market distortion.

The RBS was launched last year in recognition of the fact that despite the widespread availability of broadband throughout Ireland, there still remained individual premises that were unable to receive broadband provision, due to technical difficulties such as line of sight issues. This Scheme, which is being rolled out this year, is aimed at making a basic broadband service available to those individual un-served premises in rural non-NBS areas who wish to avail of such services. Approximately 3,700 applications qualified under the Scheme and the Verification Phase of the Scheme is now underway. Under this phase, the details of applicants have been passed to Internet Service Providers who are participating in the Scheme and these companies have responded to my Department indicating where they may be able to offer services. I expect that a significant number of applicants may be served by commercial operators as part of this phase of the scheme. Once the applicants have given their written consent to be contacted by the companies in question, the companies will be in touch with written offers of service.

The response to date by industry suggests that virtually all premises in the country are capable of obtaining a broadband service from a supplier using one of the available technology platforms i.e. DSL, fixed or mobile wireless, cable or satellite. Where a commercial service has been shown to be available, the State cannot intervene with a subvention for alternative services.

While it is not feasible to re-open the RBS for applications, those living in areas covered by the National Broadband Scheme are still entitled to seek a service from "3" under this Government initiative up to August 2014 when the contract will expire.

The Government accepts that the widespread availability of high speed broadband is a key requirement in delivering future economic and social development. The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce, which I convened last summer, has an important role to play in this regard. It comprises the CEOs of all of the major telecommunications companies operating in the Irish market, as well as CEOs of some other companies that provide broadband services. The purpose of the Taskforce is to discuss and report on policy issues and proposals in relation to the provision of high speed broadband across Ireland. I expect that the Taskforce will help to identify how best to deliver wider customer access to high-speed broadband generally and thereby assist in delivering on the commitment in the Programme for Government.

The Taskforce will conclude its deliberations shortly. It is my intention to consider the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the report of the Taskforce and to move quickly thereafter to put in place the optimal policy environment for the delivery of high speed broadband.