James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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424. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to redraw the map of broadband coverage in County Longford in view of the fact that there are errors in the current mapping coverage for the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2957/13]

James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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425. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when he will be in a position to guarantee a minimum download of broadband speeds of 2 MBPS in counties Longford and Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2958/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 424 and 425 together.

Broadband connectivity, as an enabling infrastructure for economic and social development, is a critical element of future sustainable economic growth and a priority for Government. In terms of telecommunications policy, my Department plays a key role in providing a supportive legislative and regulatory environment within which competition can flourish and private sector investment can take place.

The provision of electronic communications services is, in the first instance, a matter for private sector service providers operating in Ireland’s fully liberalised telecommunications market, regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). Broadband services are provided by a number of private service providers over various platforms including wired, fixed wireless and mobile technologies.

The Government can intervene in the case of clear market failure. It has, in the past, undertaken, following EU State aid clearance, 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. State investment in the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) are examples of such interventions. In Counties Longford and Westmeath, broadband services under the NBS are available in 11 and 26 Electoral Divisions respectively.

With basic broadband services widely available across Ireland, the focus is now on accelerating the roll out of high speed services. The Government’s National Broadband Plan, which I published in August last, aims to radically change the broadband landscape in Ireland by ensuring that high speed services of at least 30Mbps are available to all of our citizens and businesses, well in advance of the EU’s target date of 2020, and that significantly higher speeds are available to as many homes and businesses as possible.

The National Broadband Plan commits to high speed broadband availability across the country – specifically:

- 70Mbps – 100Mbps will be available from the commercial market operators to more than half of the population by 2015;

- At least 40Mbps, and in many cases faster speeds, to at least a further 20% (and potentially as much as 35%) of the population during the lifetime of the Government; and

- A minimum of 30Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country, also during the lifetime of the Government.

During the preparation of the National Broadband Plan, the commercial market operators indicated that they expect to provide 70Mbps to 100Mbps services to 50% of the population by 2015. The areas to be provided with those services will be determined by the commercial market operators.

One of the first steps in delivering on the commitments in the National Broadband Plan will be the completion of a formal national mapping exercise to determine the exact position in relation to commercial service providers’ existing and planned broadband services throughout the country, including Counties Longford and Westmeath. It will also identify where the market is expected to succeed and fail in the delivery of high speed broadband over the coming years.

Until that process is complete, the precise areas of the country which may require State intervention will not be known. I would reiterate however, that the Government remains committed to the delivery of the speeds referred to above, to ensure that all parts of Ireland, including Counties Longford and Westmeath, will have at least 30Mbps connectivity.