Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

591. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of amber premises for the State intervention area; the number of blue and light blue premises to be covered by commercial operators; the number of premises that have been connected under the plan for each such category under the national broadband plan, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53723/17]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

592. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the date by which the contract for the State intervention area will be awarded under the national broadband plan; and the approximate project build time from award of tender to construction and completion of all premises. [53724/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 591 and 592 together.

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. 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 roll out high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of 2018 as part of an Agreement signed with me in April.

A tabulated list of the number of premises countrywide which fall into these categories is attached, as is a tabulated list on the number of premises passed under eir's rural deployment. As of Q3 2017 my Department can confirm that a total of 12,475 premises have been connected under this rural deployment. Recent reports by eir state this figure has risen to over 14,000, an increase of over 130% from Q2. This number is expected to continue to rise in coming quarterly reports.

Information on eir's planned rural deployment, including estimated roll-out times, is available at . A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ieas are quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment. eir has committed to completing the roll-out by the end of 2018.

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 26 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 roll-out. My Department will engage with the winning bidder(s) to ensure the most efficient deployment as part of the contract. Bidders have indicated that network roll-out will take 3-5 years following contract award.

I recognise the frustration experienced across Ireland where telecommunications networks are not always delivering the services people expect. In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Task force to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.

Under this Task force, 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.