Written answers

Tuesday, 7 February 2017

Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

National Broadband Plan Implementation

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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43. 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 provided by Ministers at each of these press conferences; the current projected commencement and completion date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5532/17]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) was published in August 2012. I provided a comprehensive update on the progress of the plan to the Deputy in my response to Question No 72 on 6 December 2016. Progress continues to be made in delivering on this Government’s commitment to ensure every household and business in Ireland has access to high speed broadband, regardless of where they are located.

Through the NBP the Government has committed to intervening to ensure high speed broadband is available in parts of the country where commercial providers acting alone will not provide this essential service. This commitment to intervene will ensure that no part of Ireland, no household, no school, no business is left behind.

This unequivocal commitment by Government to deliver the National Broadband Plan has also served as a catalyst for industry in bringing forward investment in new infrastructure in towns, villages and rural areas of Ireland.

As of today, approximately 1.4m premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband from commercial service providers and investment by the telecoms sector is continuing to expand this footprint.

For those areas that will not be covered by commercial operators the State has committed to intervene and subsidise a network build. The procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State Intervention area 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.

My Department will shortly update the High Speed Broadband map to finalise the Intervention Area for this procurement, taking into account industry investments that have not fully materialised in the Blue area, along with concrete and credible commitments by industry for further new investments within the State Intervention area.

The timeframe for 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.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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48. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress to date in the provision of high quality broadband in all areas throughout the country; if regulation of the broadband network will be invigorated to ensure that the services are working to optimum efficiency and quality and that high quality and high speed broadband becomes the norm rather than the exception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5787/17]

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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49. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the fact that householders in the Ballinora area are still without broadband; and when the national broadband plan will service this community. [5806/17]

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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54. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the implementation of the national broadband plan; the way in which it will be prioritised within the proposals recently announced as part of the action plan for rural development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5803/17]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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57. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the current projected commencement and completion date for the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5533/17]

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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73. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress of broadband roll-out in County Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5404/17]

Photo of Thomas ByrneThomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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79. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his proposals to enhance rural broadband in County Meath. [5809/17]

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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81. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the role of commercial providers in the roll-out of the national broadband plan; the way in which his Department is reviewing the commercial intervention in conjunction with the progress of the State plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5802/17]

Photo of Declan BreathnachDeclan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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560. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to speed up the roll-out of high speed broadband into communities in which there is currently little or no service; if there is a timeframe on the urgent points identified in the implementation programme on mobile phone and broadband access document; if he will direct the broadband and mobile phone service providers to extend connectivity to all households when they are working within an area; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that service providers currently consider it acceptable to connect some households within an area and not others; the timeframe for the roll-out of high speed broadband to a location (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5402/17]

Photo of Shane CassellsShane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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566. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will address the concerns of residents and businesses in the Piercetown area of County Meath (details supplied) whereby according to a website there is no planned broadband roll-out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5575/17]

Photo of Eamon ScanlonEamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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576. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the measures he will take to speed up the roll-out of the national broadband plan; if he will increase the standards as set by the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5991/17]

Photo of Kevin O'KeeffeKevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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587. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans in conjunction with broadband providers to fast track the provision of broadband in rural communities here in which it does not exist to date and to upgrade existing broadband services in rural Ireland whereby many businesses, schools and homeowners are struggling owing to the inefficiency of existing services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6108/17]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 48, 49, 54, 57, 73, 79, 81, 560, 566, 576 and 587 together.

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

A key principle of the NBP is to support and stimulate commercial investment through policy and regulatory measures. Commercial investment since the publication of the NBP has considerably exceeded expectations. To date, 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. 

There has been significant progress in relation to broadband rollout so that today, approximately 1.4m or 61% of premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband of a minimum of 30 Megabits per second. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector, which is continuing to expand this footprint.

The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available atwww.broadband.gov.ie shows the current 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,

- The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention, which are the subject of the current procurement process. It is intended that premises within this area will have access to services of at least 30 megabits per second when the procurement process is completed and the network rolled out. 

Of the 186 premises in Ballinora, County Cork, 160 are within the Blue area that will be served by commercial operators.

In the case of Tullyallen, Co. Louth, 86% of the premises in the townland identified, including the individual address mentioned, fall within the Blue area, with the remainder to be covered by the NBP State Intervention.

The map indicates that the townlands of Piercetown, Toberultan and Garistown in Co Meath are within the AMBER area and will therefore, be included in the State Intervention procurement process under the NBP. 

There are c. 82,000 premises in County Meath, of which approximately 31,000 (38%) are located in the Amber area on the Map, and will benefit from the NBP’s State Intervention.  The remaining 51,000 (62%) premises are located in the commercial blue area and will be served by commercial operators.

Approximately 41,000 (49%) of the circa 84,000 premises in County Tipperary are located in the Amber area with the remaining 43,000 (51%) to be served by commercial operators.

Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by accessing the High Speed Broadband Map and entering their Eircode.

My Department is actively monitoring commercial deployment plans in the BLUE areas to ensure that all households and businesses can get access to the services.  My Department is also actively monitoring developments of commercial operators that might impact the Intervention Area.  This is being done in accordance with procedures set out by my Department in December 2015.

I should add, however, that the provision of telecommunications services, including broadband services, is a matter for the service providers concerned who operate in a fully liberalised market, regulated by the independent regulator, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).  I do not have a statutory authority to require commercial companies to rollout services to particular locations.

A formal procurement process is in train to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State Intervention Area. My Department will shortly update the High Speed Broadband map to finalise the Intervention Area for the Procurement process, taking into account industry investments that have not materialised in Blue areas, together with new industry investments within the proposed State Intervention Area, along with concrete and credible commitments by industry for further new investments within the Intervention Area.

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. Intensive dialogue with bidders is continuing and the three bidders have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution. This provides for a future proofed solution for the 25 years of the contract and beyond.  A fibre-to-the-home solution means that householders and businesses may get speeds not just of 30 Megabits per second but much higher, potentially up to 1000 Megabits per second. 

The timeframe for 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. During the Department's extensive stakeholder consultations in 2015, telecommunications service providers indicated a 3-5 year timeline to rollout a network of the scale envisaged under the NBP.

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 a further positive initiative, last July, I established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce with my colleague Minister Humphreys to address immediate issues in relation to the quality of mobile phone and broadband coverage. The Taskforce report which was published in December, is available on my Department's website. 

I have signed Regulations allowing ComReg to proceed with the allocation of spectrum in the 3.6GHz band, in early 2017. This will provide an 86% increase in total spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless services. I have also secured €8m for RTE which will allow it to free up the 700MHz spectrum band, to provide enhanced mobile services.  

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

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