Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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515. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will request a company (details supplied) to provide broadband as per the initial agreement in County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50073/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector so that to date approximately 1.5m or 65% of the 2.3m premises in Ireland can get access to high speed broadband and this is set to increase to 77% (1.8m premises) by the end of 2018 and to 90% (2.1m premises) by the end of 2020.

  In April of this year, I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie.  The map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the NBP. 

The Map is searchable by Eircode/address and is colour coded:

- AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing  procurement process.

- BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering, or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. 

- Light BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of 2018, as part of an Agreement signed with me in April.

While the premises referenced in the Question falls within an AMBER area and will be covered through the State led Intervention under the NBP, I understand from communications between the company and officials from my Department that the company referenced is currently in discussion with two telecommunications operators with a view to obtaining a high speed broadband service.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now at an advanced stage.  “Detailed Solutions” submitted by two bidders on 26th September are being evaluated by the NBP specialist team. The next stage in the procurement process is the receipt of final tenders followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder(s) and contract signature.

As part of this procurement process, the bidder(s) will be required to submit their strategies, including timescales, for the network build and rollout.  Delivering connectivity to the 542,000 premises that fall within the State led intervention under the NBP remains a Government priority and my Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) to ensure the most efficient deployment as part of the contract.

I recognise the importance of availability of high speed connectivity for all premises in Ireland and the frustration for communities and businesses that do not currently have access to this level of connectivity.  Delivering connectivity to the 542,000 premises (including more than 11,000 premises in County Westmeath) that fall within the State led intervention under the NBP remains a Government priority and my Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) to ensure the most efficient deployment as part of the contract.  

In the interim, practical initiatives will continues to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.

Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen.  Local Broadband Officers act as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities.  The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure.  A complete list of Local Broadband Officers is available on my Department's website.