Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if NewERA has commenced or completed the assessment of State owned assets which is designated to identify and grasp opportunities to quicken and enhance the roll-out of high speed broadband. [3463/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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On 30th August 2012, I published ‘Delivering a Connected Society - A National Broadband Plan for Ireland’. The Plan sets the following high speed broadband targets:

- 70Mbps -100Mbps available to at least 50% of the population with a majority having access to 100Mbps;

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

- A minimum of 30Mbps available to all.

It is intended that the commercial sector will be the key driver of investment, with State intervention only where the market is unlikely to invest. In addition to investment in infrastructure, the National Broadband Plan contains actions relating to demand stimulation, infrastructure barrier removal, spectrum policy, potential contribution of State entities, as well as policy and regulation.

NewEra has commenced work on the element of Plan dealing with the potential contribution of State entities and has met with the State commercial and non-commercial entities and with industry. NewEra is working closely with the relevant stakeholders to progress this work and is represented on the High Level Implementation Group for Plan which is chaired by my Department.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the way he will, in the context of awarding State investment in cases of market failure regarding broadband provision, monitor and measure the quality and performance of the work carried out by telecommunications companies. [3464/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The provision of electronic communications services is a matter, in the first instance, for private sector service providers operating in Ireland’s fully liberalised telecommunications market, regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

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. The National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is an example of such an intervention.

My Department has well-established monitoring arrangements in place to ensure that the NBS delivers the minimum specified service or better to all users. Under the NBS contract, specific service level agreement (SLA) standards are in place, which define the service and support levels to be provided by the NBS service provider, “3”, to NBS subscribers. The NBS contract imposes a service credit regime on “3”, with financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. It also provides that where NBS customers do not receive the minimum guaranteed service as set out in the terms and conditions of their contract, they are entitled to service rebates.

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 30 Mbps 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 Plan contains specific and ambitious targets, most of which are expected to be delivered by the private sector. My Department will conduct a national mapping exercise aimed at identifying precisely the areas of the country that the private sector will invest in and those rural parts that will require State intervention to ensure that our National Broadband Plan and Digital Agenda for Europe targets are fully met.

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

Any contract subsequently awarded to service provider(s) to implement the roll out of broadband in areas which require direct Government intervention will be monitored and measured in terms of performance and quality of service.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he is working with, or will consider working with, the Communications Regulator and other bodies such as the National Consumer Agency to ensure that a transparent process exists for citizens to voice concerns and complaints in relation to broadband issues, in particular broadband introduced as part of previous State-funded/supported programmes. [3465/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) provides a complaints handling process for users of electronic communications services in accordance with its objectives set out in section 12 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002. In implementing this obligation ComReg seeks to provide users with sufficient information to deal with their service providers effectively and to ensure that operators have adequate procedures in place to address customer issues.

ComReg can act on a consumer complaint provided the consumer has contacted their operator and allowed 10 working days for resolution of the issue. Broadband customers who wish to express concerns or pursue complaints regarding broadband services can contact ComReg by email at or call 1890 200035 for business customers or or 1890 229668 for other users.

In cases where a complaint is specific to the quality of services provided under the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), which was established with assistance from State funding, consumers are referred to my Department which has a well-established monitoring arrangements in place to ensure that the scheme delivers a minimum specified service or better to all users. Under the NBS contract, specific service level agreement (SLA) standards are in place, which define the service and support levels to be provided by “3” to NBS subscribers.

Any NBS customer 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 via email to . A team of field engineers has been established to address NBS specific maintenance issues at customers’ premises.

My Department has a role where customers have fully utilised the established complaints process and consider that their complaint has not been resolved. My officials operate a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at , with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the focus of the Delivering a Connected Society: National Broadband Plan for Ireland will be placed on those rural areas, such as Connemara, which were either ineligible for inclusion in the earlier National Broadband Scheme or were included but whose citizens are experiencing inadequate, unreliable internet access at present. [3466/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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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 30 Mbps 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.

During the preparation of the National Broadband Plan, the commercial market operators indicated that they expect to provide 70 Mbps to 100 Mbps 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. 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 will require State intervention will not be known. I would reiterate however, that the Government remains committed to the delivery of the speeds referred to in the Plan and to ensuring that all parts of Ireland, including Connemara, will have at least 30 Mbps connectivity.

As regards the quality of service under the National Broadband Scheme (NBS), any NBS customer experiencing problems with the NBS service is advised to contact 3’s customer care centre 24 hours a day 7 days a week by phone at 1913 (free of charge) or via email to . A team of field engineers has been established to address NBS specific maintenance issues at customers’ premises.

My Department has a role where customers have fully utilised the established complaints process and consider that their complaint has not been resolved. My officials operate a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at , with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service. Where a customer has unresolved problems with their NBS service, they can contact my Department who will then liaise with personnel employed by 3 at its Head Office in Dublin to remedy their service performance issues.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will report on the expenditure to date of the €175 million committed to by the State under the Delivering a Connected Society: National Broadband Plan for Ireland. [3467/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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On 30 August 2012, I published the National Broadband Plan, which contains ambitious targets for high speed broadband services across Ireland. The Plan is available on my Department’s website.

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. 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 will require State intervention will not be known. No expenditure on direct broadband provision will be incurred until this exercise is completed and procurement of a service provider(s) is rolled out.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if, in acknowledgement of the very welcome progress made by his Department in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills, in delivering 100 mbps broadband to schools in counties including Galway, it is technologically feasible to extend the service to homes and businesses near the schools. [3468/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The infrastructure that delivers the 100 Mbps broadband connection to post-primary schools is built on a platform that utilises local access service providers, national backhaul service providers and HEAnet’s national backbone infrastructure. The service provision is on a dedicated point to point basis i.e. from the school building to the service provider’s network and onward onto HEAnet’s network. As such, the extension of the service to homes and local businesses near the school is not technologically feasible nor is it permitted under the terms of the contracts with the service providers or HEAnet.

The Government is however, committed to the provision of high speed broadband to all citizens and businesses across Ireland through a combination of public and private sector investment, which is set out in its National Broadband Plan. The plan commits to at least 30 mpbs connectivity to all parts of Ireland, including Galway.