Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the plans in place to roll out broadband in the Oldtown, Ballyboughal, Naul and Garristown areas of north County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12111/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland’s telecommunications market has been liberalised since 1999 and since then has developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. Details of broadband services available on a County-by-County basis, including County Dublin, can be found on the website of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) at www.callcosts.ie.

The State only becomes involved in the provision of services in instances of clear market failure, such as in the case of the National Broadband Scheme and the Rural Broadband Scheme. The combination of private investment and State interventions means that Ireland has met the EU Commission’s Digital Agenda for Europe target of having a basic broadband service available to all areas by 2013, and 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. Specifically, it commits to:

- 70 Mbps to 100 Mbps available from the commercial market operators to more than half of the population by 2015,

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

- A minimum of 30 Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country.

During the preparation of Ireland’s 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 commercial sector is already making these investments in high speed services, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas. The Government is also committed in the Plan to investing in areas where high speed services are not commercially viable and will not be provided by the market.

My Department is making preparations to commence a formal national mapping exercise to identify where the market is expected to succeed and fail in the delivery of high speed broadband over the coming years. This will inform the level of Government interaction that may be required and the areas that need to be targeted for a State-led investment. It will also form a critical input to an EU State Aid application in respect of any State-led intervention.

Through the implementation of the National Broadband Plan, we are committed to increasing the availability of next generation speeds significantly, with a view to ensuring that all citizens and business can participate fully in a digitally enabled society. I would reiterate that the Government remains committed to the delivery of the speeds referred to above, to ensure that all parts of Ireland, including areas such as, Oldtown, Ballyboughal, Naul and Garristown will have at least 30 Mbps connectivity.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will confirm if the feasibility of using the existing electricity grid network for the provision of broadband internet services has been examined; if so if his policy favours the use of using such technology to bring broadband internet access to remote locations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12275/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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It has been Government policy for some time that State entities should avail of commercial opportunities to facilitate the deployment of infrastructure to the telecommunications market. A number of commercial State companies and non-commercial State bodies are currently leveraging their infrastructure in this way and have contributed to the marked improvement in broadband services in recent years. I am aware that the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), for example, recently sought a joint venture partner to deploy and manage, as a wholesale service provider, access to a fibre-to-the-building network capable of providing next generation broadband services, using the existing electricity network infrastructure. These initiatives are consistent with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) which reaffirms the Government’s commitment to using State Assets to help accelerate the roll-out of next generation high speed broadband.

The NBP also recognises that Government intervention will be required to ensure a minimum marketed speed of 30 megabits per second will be available in those parts of the country the competitive market will not serve. The NBP estimates required public funding will be significant, in the region of €175 million. The actual level of investment will be decided in a future competitive procurement process managed by my Department. There will be a number of technologies and solutions capable of meeting the qualitative requirements. It is not appropriate for me to express a preference for any one potential solution or applicant over others prior to the completion of the procurement process.