Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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486. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will review broadband retention figures that were established with 3, 3.6mbps max on a ratio of 48:1; if he sees an opportunity in taking more bandwidth from a satellite company (details supplied); his views on a person's recent test results; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32171/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The broadband service contracted under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) was designed as 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 is required to offer minimum download and upload speeds of 2.3Mbps and 1.4Mbps 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 3.6Mbps and 384 kbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 48:1. The NBS satellite service was upgraded in July 2012 and there are no further upgrades foreseen within the NBS contract.

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 significant 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.

Should any NBS customer experience problems with the NBS service, they are advised to contact 3's customer care centre, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, by phone at 1913 (free of charge), via email to or by post to 3 Customer Services, Hutchison 3G Ireland Limited, PO Box 333, Dublin 2.

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. My Department will then liaise with “3” personnel at its Head Office in Dublin to remedy any service performance issues. In this instance, the person referred to in the Question contacted my officials on Tuesday, 25^th June last and the details of their complaint were forwarded directly to “3”. I understand that they, in turn, contacted the customer and have commenced a thorough investigation of the issues raised. My officials will remain in touch with “3” and the customer until such time as the service issues are resolved.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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487. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his attention has been drawn to the quality of broadband services in the EU report carried out for the European Commission by SamKnows Limited, which revealed that Irish broadband users receive only 84.7% of the advertised download speed and 72.5% of the advertised upload speed; if the situation has changed since the report was issued; if not, if he intends to address false advertising of upload and download speeds in the broadband sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32203/13]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The study undertaken as part of the EU Commission report was competed in March 2012. The report was published in June last. It compares marketed headline speeds for broadband services compared to the speeds experienced by users over cable, fibre and fixed lines in the EU 28, Iceland and Norway.

The comparison across the 30 countries surveyed demonstrates, as a general rule, a common practice of marketing a headline speed of “up to X Mbps”, as a maximum speed which customers can expect. The actual speed available varies for a number of reasons, including the amount of traffic online at any time, any consequential network congestion and distance from any individual premises to the nearest exchange. The actual speeds experienced can also vary depending on the manner in which connections are configured within customers' premises.

The average download speed accessed in Ireland was above the EU average of 19.47 megabits per second (Mbps) or 74% of marketed speeds. The average upload speed available in Ireland was below the EU average of 6.2 Mbps or 88% of the marketed speeds. Since the survey was undertaken, UPC has rolled out download speeds up to 150 Mbps and upload speeds up to 10 Mbps across its network. More recently, eircom has launched broadband services to make download speeds up to 70 Mbps and upload speeds up to 20 Mbps accessible at 1.2 million premises by 2015. The speeds available in Ireland are therefore increasing since the survey was completed.

The marketing of broadband services in Ireland is governed by the law generally applicable to the sale of goods and services. There is no legislation specific to the marketing of broadband services. The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland, following consultations with the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), and the National Consumer Agency, published guidelines in 2008 on the marketing of broadband services which can be accessed on-line at . In addition, ComReg is concluding a procurement process to launch a Broadband Speed Information Initiative later this year, which will compile data in respect of actual broadband speeds being experienced by users compared to the speed advertised for individual broadband packages.