Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 330: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is taking any action to reduce the cost off bandwidth given that Ireland has the second highest cost per megabit of data across the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15645/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland's telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999. The delivery of deregulated telecommunications services, including broadband services, and the retail prices charged are decided in the open competitive market by commercial operators. Neither my Department nor the market regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), has any legal basis to regulate broadband charges. ComReg publishes quarterly statistical reports on the telecommunications market and also operates a web-based call-cost comparison service which, among other things, allows customers to identify broadband services available by region and to compare competing service offerings including retail broadband prices, http://www.callcosts.ie/broadband/Broadband_Calculator.175.LE.asp.

The ComReg report for Q4 2011, includes a comparison of EU fixed line retail broadband prices. Overall, across all fixed line speeds in the residential market, Ireland is ranked 18th of the countries reported (figure 3.6.2). The report (figure 3.6.3) ranks Ireland 3rd lowest by price of the 24 countries reported on for a business class broadband package, which is defined as a package offering speeds between 4Mbps and 10Mbps. The comparison for speed up to 4Mbp ranks Ireland 2nd highest by price of the 20 countries reported (figure 3.6.1).

However, these tables do not compare all broadband prices available in the market. The retail price comparison for residential customers, for example, is restricted to the lowest retail price offered in that category by one of the three largest operators only. The retail tariff quoted for Ireland therefore exceeds €35 per month, however the ComReg call-costs website identifies other service providers who are offering speeds within this category at lower monthly prices in the range of €10.15 (3) to €16.99 (UTV) per month. Therefore, the comparison tables do not necessarily demonstrate that Ireland is the 3rd least expensive country compared for business class services, nor is it necessarily the 2nd most expensive country for residential services when all available services are considered.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 331: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is concerned that the bandwidth being allocated through long term evolution is too narrow and does not allow for RAN sharing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15646/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The allocation of bandwidth and the award of spectrum licences, including the imposition and monitoring of associated quality and coverage requirements for the spectrum rights to provide mobile telephony services, are statutory functions of the Commission for Communications Regulation under the Communications Regulation Act, 2002 as amended (the Act).

Furthermore section 11 of the Act requires that "Subject to this Act, the Commission shall be independent in the exercise of its functions" and such independence is also a requirement under the EU Directives which underpin the electronic communications regulatory framework in all Member States.

Accordingly, as I have no function in the issues raised by the Deputy, it would not be appropriate for me to make any comment.

Any concerns regarding this matter should, in the first instance, be directed to the Commission for Communications Regulation. I am advised by ComReg that the bandwidth allocated for a particular service and the ability of RAN sharing are two separate matters.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 332: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he believes that Ireland will reach the EU 2020 target of a minimum 30Mbit broadband speed for every citizen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15647/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to co-invest with the private sector and commercial Semi State sector to provide Next Generation Broadband customer access and associated fast speeds to every home and business in the State.

The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce (NGBT) 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, as well as identifying the extent to which the Digital Agenda for Europe Target of 30Mbps for all can be met by industry.

The Taskforce is currently finalising its deliberations which I expect will conclude in the coming weeks. The next steps, following completion of the NGBT report, will be to bring the report to Government before consulting with the wider public for their views. Building on the work of the Taskforce, it is my intention to publish a National Broadband Plan for Ireland later this year which will set out a range of policy commitments and actions aimed at accelerating the rollout of high speed broadband across Ireland.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 333: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is concerned that download speeds in our major cities are falling behind download speeds in small to medium size towns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15648/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Commission for Communications Regulation publishes quarterly reports on trends in the telecommunications market generally. In the case of contracted broadband speeds the most recent report to end Q4 2011 shows a continuing trend of customers moving to higher speeds. The report demonstrates that between Q4 2009 and Q4 2011 the number of all broadband subscribers contracted at speeds up to 2Mbps fell from 21% to less than 7%; the number of customers contracted in a range between 2Mbps-10Mbps is 75% of all subscriptions and the market share contracted at speeds above 10Mbps increased from 6% to more than 18% in that period.

These figures are calculated nationally and it is not possible to infer penetration rates in particular towns or cities. The technologies available to provide services over fixed line telecommunications networks are the same in both cities and small and medium sized towns and higher speeds available over a cable network are likely to be available in more cities then small and medium towns. Therefore, I am not aware of any basis on which it can be asserted that, as a general rule, broadband download speeds are likely to be higher in small to medium towns than in larger cities.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 334: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is considering any new measures to considerably upgrade the infrastructure in rural areas to facilitate greatly enhanced broadband services for citizens in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15649/12]

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 which are licensed and regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband to those parts of the country where operators have been unable to offer services on a commercial basis. In the case of one such intervention, namely the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), services are available since October 2010 from the NBS service provider, 3, to persons with a fixed residence or fixed business in each of the 1,028 Electoral Divisions (ED) designated to be covered under the Scheme.

A contractual upgrade of the NBS product specifications will take place from October of this year, without an increase in the monthly fee. Following the upgrade of the mobile broadband product, the minimum download speed will increase from 1.6Mbps to 2.3Mbps while the minimum upload speeds will increase from 1.2Mbps to 1.4Mbps, with a maximum contention ratio of 18:1. The combined data allowance will move from 25GB to 40GB.

The Rural Broadband Scheme (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 unserved premises in rural non-NBS areas who wish to avail of such services.

The combination of private investment and State interventions means that Ireland will meet the EU Commission's "Digital Agenda for Europe" target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013.

The Government accepts that the widespread availability of high speed broadband is a key requirement in delivering future economic and social development. With basic broadband services now widely available across Ireland, the challenge is to accelerate the roll out of high speed services. The Next Generation Broadband Taskforce (NGBT), 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 is currently finalising its deliberations which I expect will conclude in the coming weeks. The next steps, following completion of the NGBT report, will be to bring the report to Government before consulting with the wider public for their views. Building on the work of the Taskforce, it is my intention to publish a National Broadband Plan for Ireland later this year which will set out a range of policy commitments and actions aimed at accelerating the rollout of high speed broadband across Ireland.