Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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173. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the position regarding Project Kelvin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31100/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The Kelvin direct international telecoms connectivity has been operational since August 2010, when the Kelvin network was completed. The Kelvin project is a joint North-South project with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and provides direct international telecoms connectivity between the North West of Ireland and the border regions and North America (New York) and Europe (Amsterdam). This was achieved by building a spur from the Hibernia North transatlantic telecoms cable, which runs off the coast of Northern Ireland and bringing it ashore at Portrush. A terrestrial fibre network was then used to connect the Kelvin connectivity from the North West of Ireland to 13 urban centres North and South, and onwards to Dublin.

The main benefits of the Kelvin connectivity are as follows:

- low cost international connectivity to the north west and Border regions, including guaranteed backhaul costs

- high speed (reduced latency) international connectivity using the Kelvin connectivity, which makes it attractive for business using real time applications

- high capacity circuits with an availability of up to 99.999% in any service month - state of the art industry standard

- improved resilience for Ireland’s overall international connectivity – the Kelvin network provides an alternative route for telecoms traffic out of Ireland via the north west using Kelvin for connectivity to the USA (New York) and Europe (Amsterdam) if required.

The Kelvin Project makes Ireland and the North West more attractive for foreign direct investment and for business in general, in particular for data intensive business, as telecoms connectivity is now an important factor in business investment decisions. The existence of the Kelvin network in the north west and Border area provides an opportunity for business interests in the region to avail of a state of the art international telecoms link to conduct business with international markets. The IDA also uses the benefits of the transatlantic link provided by Project Kelvin to promote the north west and Border region as an attractive and viable location for new inward investment opportunities, and to secure additional projects from existing international investors.