Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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186. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when the planned roll-out of fibre optic broadband will commence in areas (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52422/17]

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 today over 67% of the 2.3m premises in Ireland have 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 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie.This 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 National Broadband Plan (NBP).

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

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

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

- The 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.

The premises of the three constituents referenced by the Deputy are located in AMBER areas. High speed broadband will be brought to them under the NBP State Intervention.

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.  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, schools and businesses that do not currently have access to this level of connectivity.  Delivering connectivity to the 542,000 premises (including approximately 16,500 in Waterford) 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 continue 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.  These Broadband Officers are acting 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.  There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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187. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if a company (details supplied) has met its commitments at the end of quarter 3 of 2017 on the roll-out of high speed broadband in rural areas; the number of premises served to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52468/17]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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188. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of premises served under a contract with a company (details supplied) in which the service is provided by fibre to the premises, exchange of cabinet launched VDSL and other technologies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52469/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 187 and 188 together.

The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) will ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland via a combination of commercial investment and State Intervention.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecommunications sector so that to date over 1.5m or 67% of the 2.3m premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband. By 2020 it is expected that 90% of premises in Ireland will have access to high speed broadband.

In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of 2018.  Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at . 

A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie. 

Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website and can be viewed at:

.

Following evaluation by officials from my Department of eir's Q3 update of its rural deployment of high speed broadband I can confirm that eir has met its Q3 target of 101,000 premises passed. As part of the Q3 update eir also informed officials from my Department that, as of September 2017, there are 14,287 connections to premises utilising Fibre to the Home technology.