Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

246. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will provide details on the way a person (details supplied) in County Cork can best attain a broadband connection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23984/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.

Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. This map is available at . The areas marked BLUE represent those areas that will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end 2016.The AMBER area shows the target areas for the State intervention and includes the area of Moneycusker, County Cork. All premises within the AMBER areas will be included in the State's intervention.

Eircom recently announced an investment that may address a further 300,000 premises with fibre-to-the-premises technology by 2020. My Department will be rigorously examining the assurances from Eircom in relation to these new plans, which is a requirement for all operators, and will review how this impacts the proposed intervention area.Intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy for the AMBER area. Following a public consultation process on the draft Intervention Strategy this summer, I hope to move to formal procurement phase towards the end of this year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders.I expect the physical build of the network to begin in late 2016, and it will take 3-5 years to fully complete – depending on the details of the bid or bids selected.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

247. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the way a person (details supplied) in County Cork may attain a broadband connection; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24018/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The National Broadband Plan is delivering high speed broadband to every home and business in Ireland regardless of its location. This is being achieved through a partnership between Government and commercial telecommunications companies.

Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. This map is available at . The map shows Ireland with two colours, BLUE and AMBER. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers plan to deliver high speed broadband services by end 2016. The AMBER area on the map shows the target areas for the State intervention. All premises within the AMBER areas will be included in the State's intervention.

Based on information provided by commercial operators, 69% of Carrigadrohid will be covered by the commercial sector. The remaining 31% of Carrigadrohid will be part of the State intervention. Members of the public should consult the map to establish for themselves the precise location and status of their individual premises.

Intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy for the AMBER area. Following a public consultation process on the draft Intervention Strategy this summer, I hope to move to formal procurement phase towards the end of this year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders. I expect the physical build of the network to begin in late 2016, and it will take 3 - 5 years to fully complete – depending on the details of the bid or bids selected. This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government and aims to conclusively address current broadband connectivity issues in mainly rural parts of the country.

The Commission for Communications Regulations (ComReg), which regulates the market, operates a website which allows users to identify and compare marketed broadband services offered by competing services providers within any county. The website also includes contact details for the competing services providers which allows users to confirm whether any listed service is available at any particular location within a county. Other commercially operated websites provide similar services. Alternatively ComReg can be contacted at or by phone at 01 804 9668 or 1890 229668 to request information.