Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

476. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to introduce a broadband universal obligation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40671/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

491. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to improve broadband telecommunications service throughout County Cavan; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that households and many small enterprises have concerns regarding the inadequate service that exists at present; if the necessary investment programme will be undertaken without further delay to bring this broadband service up to a proper standard; the improvements which can be expected in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40996/16]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

492. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to improve broadband telecommunications service throughout County Monaghan; if his attention has be drawn to the fact that households and many small enterprises have concerns regarding the inadequate service that exists at present; if the necessary investment programme will be undertaken without further delay to bring this broadband service up to a proper standard; the improvements which can be expected in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40997/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 476, 491 and 492 together.

The Government considers the NBP to be one of the most significant investments in rural Ireland for decades, and one which will transform society, akin to rural electrification in the last century.  The strategy for broadband rollout, the National Broadband Plan (NBP), aims to deliver high speed broadband services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland.  This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State Intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. 

The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at shows the extent of the State Intervention area:

- The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial telecommunications providers are either currently delivering or have previously indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services. To date, 1.4 million premises in the BLUE area can get access to high Speed Broadband.

- The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention, the subject of the current procurement process.

My 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 currently within  the State Intervention Area covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area; including over 24,000 premises in Co. Cavan and 19,000 premises in Co Monaghan.

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 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 needs and/or high demand. This will need to be balanced with the most efficient network rollout 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 rollout 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 rollout 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 €2.5bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services.

These investments should assist in significantly improving the coverage and quality of broadband and mobile voice and data services throughout the country, including County Cavan and County Monaghan.

Currently there is  no universal service obligation (USO) for high speed broadband provision or mobile voice services.  The current EU and national regulatory framework for telecommunications relates solely to voice telephony and Functional Internet Access (28.8 kilobits per second) and is provided for under the current EU regulatory framework governing telecoms.  

The National Broadband Plan will deliver high speed broadband networks, to connect all premises but there might be some instances, for technical or other reasons, where some premises might not be able to readily obtain those services.

I am in discussion with ComReg as to whether a universal service obligation (USO) may be a viable instrument in such instances, e.g. in areas where a high speed network is available but individual premises cannot access such services at an affordable price. This is similar to the arrangements which are already in place for fixed voice. 

I have also raised the issue of a USO for high speed broadband at EU level.  In September, the European Commission published an ambitious proposal for the regulation of the European telecoms sector, which aims to incentivise and encourage increased investment in high speed broadband networks. I have asked the Commission to consider a specific provision in the new framework that will allow Member States to apply a USO for high speed broadband, where such networks are available.