Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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244. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when his Department first announced plans to introduce the awaited national broadband plan; the dates on which various Ministers held press conferences to publicise it; the expected commencement and completion dates given by Ministers at each of these press conferences; the current projected commencement date and completion date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29119/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) which was published in August 2012 by the then Minister Pat Rabbitte outlined Government’s commitment to deliver high speed broadband availability across the country and reflects Government and European objectives to deliver high speed services to all citizens. Specifically it committed to a State intervention in those areas where commercial investment is not forthcoming.

Since the publication of the Plan, there have been numerous updates provided in respect of progress.  In April 2014,  the Government decided that it needed to scale up the ambition of the plan. This was a consequence of the mapping process, which has been underway since 2013, and which demonstrated that there was a significant fibre-deficit across Ireland that this would require a major network build. It also recognised new State Aid Guidelines published in 2013, a significant ramp-up in demand for data services nationally and internationally, and accelerated industry investment following regulatory and policy decisions, which included legislation to allow ESB to enter the telecoms market.  Facilitating commercial investment continues to be a critical element of the Plan and industry is now delivering to approximately 1.2m premises across Ireland, which represents an increase of at least 200k more homes and businesses than had originally been anticipated.  Telecoms operators are also rolling out fibre-to-the-home services in Ireland - a technology which was not envisaged on any scale in 2012.  At least two operators have announced ambitious fibre-to-the-home roll-out plans, one of which involves the use of the ESB network, which was facilitated by legislation introduced by my Department as part of the broader NBP policy.

Following the Government's decision to scale up the ambition of the plan, significant additional resources were brought to bear on the project. Since then, my predecessor and I have held media briefings to flag key milestones in the development of the Plan. These include:

November 2014 - the publication of the High Speed Broadband Map and launch of a public consultation;

June 2015 - the publication of the draft Intervention Strategy along with 7 expert reports which are supporting the delivery of the procurement

December 2015 - the publication of the updated High Speed Broadband Map and formal launch of the procurement process, with the publication of a detailed Project Information Memorandum and Project Information Notice in the Official Journal of the EU.

July 2016 - the decision by Government in relation to the ownership model for the network to be built and the shortlisting of three companies to be brought forward as bidders in the procurement process.

July 2016- the Programme for Government commits to the establishment of a Mobile Phone and Broadband Task Force to consider immediate measures to address telecommunications deficits in rural Ireland. The task force, which I co-chair with my colleague, Minister Humphreys, was established in July 2016.The task force has established four sub-groups to examine various aspects of mobile phone and broadband coverage and there have been 10 meetings since July with the next meeting of  the main group scheduled for tomorrow, 7 October 2016.  The task force is making good progress in identifying practical actions that can be taken in the short-term to improve mobile phone and broadband access in Ireland including access to infrastructure  and network improvement. 

The task force will work with Government Departments, Local Authorities, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), State Agencies, the telecoms industry and other key stakeholders.  The work of the task force will also assist Local Authorities in preparing for the roll-out of the new NBP network once contract(s) are in place. I expect that Minister Humphreys and I will bring proposals to Government by the end of 2016, on foot of the task force's report.

I am sure that the Deputy will agree that regular progress reports on the development of the plan, at the key milestone stages outlined, is important in order to inform the public of progress.

The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll out a new high speed broadband network to over 750,000 premises in Ireland, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland. Since bidders were invited to participate in dialogue with the Department, there have been well over 100 hours of meetings, with considerable more interaction to follow over the coming months. While the Department had indicated that the process would be concluded in 2016, this has not been possible, due to the complexity of the process. For example, there were 5 consortia considered during the pre-qualification phase of the procurement, involving over 30 companies, with each potentially bidding for three lots in the procurement process. This required detailed analysis and companies requested more time at that stage of the process.

Throughout the process, it was envisaged that contract(s) would be awarded in 2016. Since the procurement commenced in December 2015, the contract award timeline is being kept under constant review to ensure that the process is robust and delivers effectively. It became apparent earlier this year that further time was needed and this was communicated publicly before the Department entered into formal dialogue with bidders. The timing of each stage of the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement team, and bidders, during the procurement process. Bidders need adequate time to prepare detailed proposals and their final formal bids and get the relevant shareholder and funding approvals at key stages of the process. It is also important to ensure that risks in this multi-million euro procurement are carefully managed. I do not propose to comment any further at this juncture, given the sensitivity of discussions in the procurement process. I can assure the Deputy however, that the procurement process is being intensively managed, to ensure an outcome that delivers a future-proofed network that serves homes and businesses across Ireland, for at least 25 years.

As part of the Department's extensive stakeholder consultations in 2015, telecommunications service providers indicated that it could take 3-5 years to roll out a network of the scale envisaged under the NBP. It is however open to bidder(s) to suggest more aggressive timescales as part of their bids. As part of the competitive process, the Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best roll-out strategy, in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business needs and-or high demand. This will need to be balanced with the most efficient network roll-out plan. A prioritisation programme will be put in place in this regard, in consultation with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. A detailed roll-out plan for the network will be published once contract(s) are in place.

The Programme for Government also commits to measures to assist in the roll-out of the network once a contract is awarded. In this regard, Minister Humphreys is leading on the establishment of two regional action groups, working with Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Offices and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.

In the meantime, my Department continues to liaise closely with industry and relevant other Departments and agencies to assist in the commercial deployment of telecommunications networks. The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services. These investments will further improve the coverage and quality of broadband and mobile voice and data services throughout the country.