Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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731. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the number of licensed telecommunication operators using the Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) around Ireland; the number of operators using this network in County Monaghan; if an assessment has been made on the success of MANs; if an audit has been done on their value for money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9788/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The State invested in the construction of 88 Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), covering 94 regional cities and towns, over the period 2002-2009. These wholesale, open access fibre networks are operated and managed in a commercial manner, on behalf of the State, by a Managed Services Entity (MSE), enet.  Currently, over 65 licensed telecommunication operators use the MANs infrastructure, with some 2,500 connections to the MANs.  The number of end users served by these service providers is a matter for the individual telecoms operators.  However, it is estimated that in excess of 600,000 business users and individuals are benefitting from the MANs, including industrial estates, multinationals, SMEs, State entities, educational institutions, together with fixed and mobile customers outside Dublin.

In the case of County Monaghan, 11 service providers utilise the MANs infrastructure at Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones and Monaghan town to provide retail services to their respective customers.

A Cost Benefit Analysis study and a Value for Money review of the Phase I MANs were carried out a number of years ago.  More recently, my Department concluded an internal review of the MANs Programme in autumn last year.  This involved a detailed retrospective review of the performance of the MANs in terms of the delivery of their policy objectives, an identification of the challenges facing the MANs, and an assessment of their ongoing relevance in the current telecommunications market. 

The review found that the MANs have played, and continue to play, an important role in driving competition in the regions and attracting foreign direct investment to the cities and towns where they are located.  The creation of the MANs as an exclusive fibre network facilitates service providers, large and small, in responding to the ongoing growth in demand for bandwidth capacity. The MAN infrastructure remains central to the telecommunications market in regional Ireland.