Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

Broadband Service Provision

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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558. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the funding of €75 million that is committed through the European Regional Development Fund, in relation to the national broadband strategy, and which can be drawn down after Exchequer expenditure is first incurred, is in addition to the €275 million allocated for the strategy or included within the €275 million; if it is not allocated within the €275 million, how and when he will spend this €75 million. [11713/16]

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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559. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the costings of the €275 million for the national broadband strategy which seeks to ensure a minimum download speed of 30 MBps and a minimum upload speed of 6 MBps, and if he has explored other options for providing minimum faster upload and download speeds, and the associated costs of the various increases in speed that he has examined. [11714/16]

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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560. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the cost of ensuring minimum download speeds of 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 MBps in the national broadband strategy. [11715/16]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 558 to 560, inclusive, together.

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. 

On 29 September 2015, the Government's 6 year Capital Plan, Building on Recovery, was published. It  includes an allocation of €275m for the National Broadband Plan (NBP). This allocation provides the initial stimulus required to deliver the Government's intervention and it is expected that further funding will be available over the lifetime of any contract(s).The scale of the planned intervention means it is likely that the overall cost will be significant.

Funding of €75m is committed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This will be drawn down as part of the overall initial funding envelope of €275m.  

The State Intervention under the NBP sets out minimum speeds that will be expected from any State funded network.  The Intervention Strategy published in July 2015 available at sets out a detailed service specification including a requirement that the State-funded network must be capable of delivering high-quality, high speed broadband of at least 30mbps download and 6mbps upload with latency of no more than 25 milliseconds. It must also be capable of catering for higher performance in the future so as to keep pace with future consumer demand.  The emphasis therefore is on putting in place a high quality infrastructure network that is capable of delivering at least 30mbps download and 6mpbs upload and higher speeds over time as demand increases.

The scale of the planned intervention means it is likely that the overall cost will be significant and the €275m allocated under the Capital Plan represents a portion only of the overall cost, which will be spread over the 25 years of the contract.  While the Department has completed  costings for the Plan,  it would not be appropriate to publicise the expected cost of building the network or the likely cost to the State while a major public procurement process is underway.  In any case, the costs will depend on a number of variables including the ownership model, the duration of the contract and whether there is a single contract or multiple smaller contracts. Ultimately, the costs will also depend on the price that bidder(s) quote in the tender process which, in turn, will reflect the strategic value they place on winning the contract.

In terms of the procurement, five responses have been received from prospective bidders to this stage of the competitive procurement process by the deadline of 31 March 2016. The five responses are being assessed in line with the criteria set down by the Department with a view to shortlisted qualified bidders that will proceed to the next stage of procurement.  

The second stage in the procurement process will be a formal invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) to shortlisted bidders. I expect that my Department will move to this stage in the next month. The third stage of the procurement process involves the issue of final tender documentation which follows the dialogue process. Following the submission of final tenders by bidders, a winning bidder(s) will be selected for the contract which will comprise one or two lots as set out in the Intervention Strategy document. The Department will then enter into formal contract negotiations with the winning bidder(s). It is expected that a contract will be awarded by June 2017. Rollout will commence once the contract is in place.

As part of the competitive process, the Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best rollout strategy, in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business need and / or high demand. This will need to be balanced with the most efficient network rollout plan.

I am in discussion with Minister Heather Humphreys on the detailed arrangements to give effect to commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government regarding her Department’s role in relation to the rollout phase of the National Broadband Plan. That role will include leading on the establishment of county or regional broadband taskforces and working with Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Offices, LEADER Groups and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.

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