Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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360. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will directly intervene to ensure that a company (details supplied) will continue to provide national broadband scheme customers with the same coverage and broadband plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39115/14]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The provision of telecommunications services, including broadband services, is a matter, in the first instance, for private sector service providers operating in a liberalised market, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). The State can only intervene to ensure access to broadband services in areas in cases of clear market failure, as was the case with the National Broadband Scheme, which commenced in 2008. Through this scheme my Department, with the support of the European Union, invested significantly to ensure that infrastructure and services were made available to redress the deficit in basic broadband connectivity which existed at the time in certain designated rural areas. Under EU State Aid approval for the Scheme, it was required to be limited in its duration. As a consequence, following a 68 month operational period, the Scheme expired on 25th August 2014.

“3”, the NBS service provider, has confirmed that, following the expiry of the Scheme, they will continue to provide coverage throughout NBS areas on a commercial basis, offering consumers the same choice of broadband plans and tariffs as those offered to consumers outside of the NBS areas. Furthermore, they plan to extend 4G coverage across all of the NBS areas, offering significantly enhanced mobile broadband speeds within the next 3 years. This rollout is already underway, with a number of NBS sites now 4G enabled.

The NBS, combined with private sector investment in the broadband market over recent years, means that there is now a choice of commercial operators offering basic broadband services over a diverse range of technology platforms throughout rural Ireland. Accordingly, continued State intervention in the provision of basic broadband where such commercial services already exist, is precluded under State Aid rules.

The Government’s Statement of Priorities for the period 2014 to 2016 reaffirms our commitment to delivering a State-led broadband intervention in rural areas. Through the National Broadband Plan, the Government aims to ensure that high speed broadband is available to all citizens and businesses in Ireland. This is being achieved through measures designed to accelerate commercial investment and the development of a State-led intervention for non-commercial areas.

As part of the mapping process, an initial stakeholder consultation on certain technical aspects of the proposed Plan was launched in June with a deadline of 15th September last. 31 submissions were received as part of this process and non-commercially sensitive versions of these responses will be published by my Department over the coming weeks.

I expect to publish the maps for public consultation later this year. These will include details of the areas requiring State intervention. The maps will be dynamic and will be subject to change if new commercial investments are announced in the future.

A further public consultation on a detailed intervention strategy will be launched in mid-2015.

EU State Aid clearance will be required for the State intervention. My Department will be working closely with the European Commission on this important aspect of the programme.

Finally, a detailed procurement process will have to be undertaken in order to select a potential preferred bidder(s) prior to commencing the roll out of high speed broadband services.

This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government and for my Department. It aims to conclusively address current connectivity challenges in a sustainable and meaningful way. Our goal is to ensure that quality broadband services are available to all citizens regardless of where they are located.