Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Question 403: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is satisfied with the broadband service being provided by three networks in rural areas; if he will acknowledge that a mobile broadband service is insufficient to support businesses in rural Ireland due to its unreliability; his plans to ensure that a fixed line broadband service will be provided in rural Ireland as a matter of extreme urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28131/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The provision of electronic communications services, including broadband services, is, in the first instance, a matter for competing service providers using one of the available technology platforms i.e. DSL, fixed or mobile wireless, cable or satellite and operating in Ireland's fully liberalised telecommunications market which is regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

The State only intervenes in areas where licensed service providers have been unable to offer services on a commercial basis. In this regard, the Government has undertaken a number of initiatives to bring broadband into those areas. In the case of one such intervention, namely the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), broadband services are available from 3, in all of the 1,028 Electoral Divisions (ED) designated to be covered under the Scheme since October 2010, the vast majority of which are in rural areas.

In keeping with State Aid clearance for the Scheme, the broadband service contracted under the NBS is a basic, affordable, scalable product. The NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum speeds of 1.6Mbps download and 1.2Mbps upload subject to a maximum contention ratio. These speeds will be upgraded in October 2012 to 2.3mbps and 1.4mbps respectively at no cost to NBS customers.

I understand 3's NBS subscribers include businesses as well as domestic customers.

As regards service quality, the Department has well-established monitoring arrangements in place to ensure that the NBS delivers the minimum specified service or better to all users. The NBS contract guarantees service levels and imposes a service credit regime on 3, with significant financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met.

Any NBS customer who is experiencing problems with the NBS service can contact 3's customer care centre 24 hours a day 7 days a week by phone at 1913 (free of charge) or by email to nbssupport@three.ie . Additionally, a team of field engineers has been established to address NBS specific maintenance issues at customers' premises.

My Department has a role when customers have fully utilised the established complaints process and still feel their complaint has not been resolved. It operates a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at nationalbroadbandscheme@dcenr.gov.ie with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service.

With basic broadband services available throughout Ireland, the challenge now is to accelerate the roll out of high speed services. This Government accepts that the widespread availability of such speeds is required to deliver future economic and social development.

Following the recent publication of the Next Generation Broadband Taskforce (NGBT), and a short public consultation on its findings and recommendations, I will be bringing proposals for a National Broadband Plan to Government shortly with a view to agreeing a comprehensive set of policy actions to underpin the provision of high speed broadband services on a national basis.