Written answers

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

National Broadband Plan Implementation

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the current projected commencement date and completion date for the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13042/17]

Photo of Noel RockNoel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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54. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the national broadband plan; his views on the latest ComReg report which highlights that only 7,623 housholds and businesses have a fibre broadband; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13935/17]

Photo of Bobby AylwardBobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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55. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the measures being taken to ensure efficient roll-out of the national broadband scheme to rural areas in particular; if he envisages that current timelines will be met; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13937/17]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which the planned expansion and extension of broadband services has progressed in the past twelve months; the extra areas now in receipt of service; the priorities planned for the near future in this regard; when it is expected that all service black spots might be eliminated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13926/17]

Photo of Denis NaughtenDenis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 52, 54, 55 and 61 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, including over the last 12 months 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 latest ComReg quarterly report highlights that over 65% of all broadband customers now avail of high speed broadband services ( > 30 Megabits per second). It also indicates that uptake over the past quarter includes an increase in customers availing of Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) of  over 20.2%.  While this represents only 7,623 premises, this is a large increase over a short period and is a very encouraging indicator of the popularity of FTTP products.

The High Speed Broadband Map is available at : 

- 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. 

My Department is actively monitoring the 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.

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. 

In the short-term I am working to ensure measures are put in place to assist in the rollout of the NBP State Intervention network once a contract is awarded and to improve mobile phone and broadband access in Ireland.

In this regard, I and Minister Humphreys established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce in July 2016.  The findings of this Taskforce recommends practical actions that can be taken to remove barriers and improve mobile phone and broadband access in Ireland. The Taskforce report is available at the following link:.

Minister Humphreys has established two Regional Action Groups, working with Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Offices and other relevant agencies to unlock barriers to investment in mobile and broadband services.  Since July, there has been significant progress made in discussions with the key stakeholders including local authority management representation, Government Departments and State agencies, as well as interaction with ComReg and telecoms operators.

I signed Regulations allowing ComReg to proceed with the allocation of spectrum in the 3.6GHz band in 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.  

My Department continues to liaise closely with industry and relevant other Departments and agencies to assist in the commercial deployment of telecommunications networks.

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

I am satisfied that the combination of initiatives, and the procurement process to deliver a new high speed broadband network under the NBP, will put Ireland to the forefront internationally in terms of connectivity, and ensure that high speed broadband services are universally available.

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