Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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533. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in relation to stakeholder involvement in the mapping process of the National Broadband Plan, if he considers the public to be stakeholders, and if so, the way he intends to involve them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27680/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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My Department is making preparations to commence a formal national mapping exercise to identify those areas where State intervention will be required to enable the delivery of high speed broadband services over the coming years in line with the commitments set out in the National Broadband Plan. It will also form a critical input to an EU State Aid application in respect of any State-led intervention.

There will be many stakeholders in this process and in the implementation of the National Broadband Plan as a whole. While my Department will be relying on the voluntary participation of the service and infrastructure operators to provide information to form the basis of the coverage maps, it is for the public benefit and at the expense of the public purse that the State intends to intervene in the market. Accordingly, the public at large are stakeholders in the process designed to ensure the provision of high speed broadband services nationwide.

Information about the mapping exercise and updates as the process advances will be published on my Department’s website once the process is launched very shortly. The initial stages of the mapping exercise will focus on gathering and validating data on current and anticipated investment by the commercial sector. This will culminate in the development of coverage maps which will aggregate the information provided by operators and indicate the areas that need to be targeted in the State-led investment. I expect these maps to be completed by the end of this year and the maps will be made available to the public on my Department’s website at that stage.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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534. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will clarify the position of those within the national broadband scheme after July 2014, particularly in relation to mobile download limits and satellite fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27681/13]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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535. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has received any assurances from the national broadband scheme contractor in relation to the number of existing live base stations, both those within and serving NBS areas, that will be retained after July 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27682/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 534 and 535 together.

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). Following an extensive mapping exercise and a competitive tendering process, my Department entered into a contract in late 2008 with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (“3”) for the delivery of the NBS. The Scheme offers a basic and affordable broadband service to fixed residences and businesses located within certain designated rural areas.

In accordance with the EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme, the NBS is for a limited duration. The contract is due to terminate in August 2014. Following the expiry of the Scheme, operational decisions such as those relating to pricing, data allowance and infrastructure will be a matter for “3”. Any regulatory issues surrounding these matters that may arise will be a matter for ComReg which is independent in the exercise of its functions. My officials are currently in talks with “3” regarding the services that will be available after August 2014.

More generally, considerable progress has been made in recent years in both the coverage and speeds of national broadband infrastructure, with a multiplicity of commercial operators providing services over a diverse range of technology platforms and offering increased choice to consumers throughout the country. 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 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.

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.

Since the publication of the Plan, investments by the commercial sector are underway in both fixed line and wireless high speed broadband services, particularly in urban and semi-urban areas. There is evidence that industry is investing beyond the targets to which they committed in the Plan.

The Government is 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 tandem with commercial developments, intensive work is underway in my Department to progress a State-led investment to secure the countrywide introduction of next generation broadband access.

In order to progress the State-led investment, a full procurement process must be designed and EU State Aids approval must be obtained. My Department will shortly embark on a formal mapping exercise to identify the areas of the country to be targeted in the State-led investment under the Government’s National Broadband Plan to ensure the provision of high speed broadband services where the commercial market will not deliver. This exercise will inform an EU State Aids application in respect of the State-led intervention and is a necessary prerequisite for State Aids approval.

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 businesses can participate fully in a digitally enabled society.