Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Government’s draft Intervention Strategy was published for public consultation on 15 July 2015. It sets out the key elements of the intervention - what services are proposed and how they will be delivered. It outlines various aspects of the proposed intervention including the type of network envisaged, the minimum speeds being demanded, the length of the contract for services, and whether the network should be publically or privately owned.

The public consultation on the intervention strategy closed on 25 September and 38 submissions were received, representing views from a wide range of stakeholders including companies, agencies and individuals. These submissions are currently being evaluated with a view to finalising the Intervention Strategy. I intend to publish the non-commercial elements of the submissions shortly.

Following the conclusion of the above processes, assessment of the consultation responses and updating of the high speed broadband map to take account of any new commercial developments, the Government will finalise the intervention strategy, with a view to formally commencing procurement by the end of this year. It is intended that the physical build of the network will begin in 2016 after a contract has been awarded. Engagement with industry stakeholders has indicated the physical build could be achieved within 3-5 years of the contract award.

In this context, the National Broadband Plan proposes that through the combination of commercial investment and State intervention, 85% of addresses in Ireland will have access to high speed services by 2018 with all addresses passed by 2020.