Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there are procedures in place to support relatively new broadband internet service providers in increasing quality broadband provision for those citizens residing in areas not served by fixed line providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15235/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since developed into a well-regulated market, supporting a multiplicity of commercial operators, providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms. The EU framework establishing a liberalised telecommunications market precludes Member States from offering assistance to some competitors in the market, which is not available to all competitors. You will appreciate therefore, that I do not have a statutory authority to support relatively new broadband internet service providers in a manner which is not also available to all other competing service providers.

The State can intervene to ensure access to broadband services in areas where the competitive market has failed to deliver such services, 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.

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. Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and mobile high speed broadband 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. In an important milestone towards delivery of this commitment in the Plan, the Government recently launched a tender for experts to assist in the design, planning and procurement of the State-led investment. Intensive technical, financial and legal preparations including stakeholder engagement will be ongoing throughout 2013 with a view to the launch of a procurement process in 2014.

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 in the Plan, to ensure that all parts of Ireland will have at least 30 Mbps connectivity.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will clarify the reason not all of County Waterford, with particular reference to places including Faithlegg, Cheekpoint and Tramore are not covered by the national broadband scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15292/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Ireland’s telecommunications market has been fully liberalised since 1999 in accordance with the requirements of binding EU Directives. The market has since 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 in each County, including County Waterford, can be found on ComReg website at .

The State can only intervene to ensure access to broadband services in areas where the competitive market has failed to deliver such services, as in the case of the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) and the Rural Broadband Scheme. Under the NBS, broadband 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. This includes 31 of the 130 EDs in County Waterford, details of which are available on my Department’s website.

EU State Aid and competition rules govern how States can intervene in areas in which existing service providers are operating. Accordingly, the NBS is prohibited from providing a service in served areas where to do so would give rise to an unacceptable level of market distortion. Prior to the commencement of the NBS, a detailed mapping exercise was carried out to determine those areas that would be included in the Scheme and those which, by virtue of being already substantially served by existing broadband suppliers, could not be included. That mapping exercise found that the areas of Faithlegg, Cheekpoint and Tramore, County Waterford, were served by existing service providers and consequently were excluded from the Scheme.

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.

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. Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and mobile high speed broadband 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. In an important milestone towards delivery of this commitment in the Plan, the Government recently launched a tender for experts to assist in the design, planning and procurement of the State-led investment. Intensive technical, financial and legal preparations including stakeholder engagement will be ongoing throughout 2013 with a view to the launch of a procurement process in 2014.

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 ensuring that all parts of Ireland, including all of County Waterford, will have at least 30 Mbps connectivity, through public or private sector investment, as outlined in the National Broadband Plan.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the definition of an acceptable broadband speed under the national broadband scheme; the recourse open to householders dissatisfied with the coverage offered by the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15293/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The broadband service contracted under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme. Under the terms of the contract which my Department has in place with “3”, the NBS service provider, the NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum download and upload speeds of 2.3 Mbps and 1.4 Mbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 18:1. The NBS satellite service, which is utilised in a small number of cases for technical reasons associated with the location of the premises, offers minimum download and upload speeds of 3.6 Mbps and 384 kbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 48:1.

As regards service quality, my 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 financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. The NBS contract 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.

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 by email to nbssupport@three.ie. Additionally, a team of field engineers has been established to address NBS specific maintenance issues at customer’s premises.

My Department has a role when customers have fully utilised the established complaints process. 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. My officials liaise very closely with “3” to ensure that any issues relating to service performance, which are brought to their attention, are addressed as quickly as possible.

With basic broadband services widely available across Ireland, the focus is now on accelerating the roll out of high speed services. The Government, through the National Broadband Plan, which I published on 30th August last year, has recognised that the key imperative now is to ensure high speed broadband availability to all.

The Plan commits to high speed broadband availability across the country 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.

Ireland is now therefore moving to a new phase of public and private sector investment in broadband in Ireland which will see significantly improved speeds delivered across the country. The National Broadband Plan commits the Government to investing in areas where high speed services are not commercially viable and will not be provided by the market.

This will ensure that citizens and businesses, wherever they are located, have a broadband connection which meets their needs to interact effectively with society and business in a digital environment.

I would reiterate that the Government remains committed to ensuring that all parts of Ireland will have at least 30 Mbps connectivity, through public or private sector investment, as outlined in the National Broadband Plan.