Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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523. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the provision of e-fibre to a location (details supplied) in County Kerry. [4452/18]

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. This is set to increase to 77% (1.8m premises) by the end of this year and to 90% (2.1m premises) by the end of 2020.

The premises referred to by the Deputy is in an AMBER area on my Department’s High Speed Broadband Map, which is available atwww.broadband.gov.ie. It will therefore be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

The procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area is now at an advanced stage. “Detailed Solutions” submitted by two bidders on 26th September 2017 are being evaluated by the NBP specialist team. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to the final tender stage, which will be followed by the appointment of a preferred bidder(s) and contract signature.

With regards to the infrastructure deployment close to the premises referred to by the Deputy, decisions made by private telecommunication operators relating to the roll-out and siting of infrastructure to provide high speed broadband services throughout Ireland are undertaken on a commercial basis by competing service providers operating in a liberalised market. I have no statutory role or function to intervene in the commercial decisions of private operators, and therefore cannot direct operators regarding infrastructure installation or delivery of services.

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, particularly when commercial operators are rolling out in the area. However, connectivity is being delivered daily to rural communities. Today in Kerry over 41,000 premises can access high speed broadband. This includes nearly 7,000 which have received access to speeds of up to 1,000 Mpbs as part of eir’s ongoing rural deployment. By the end of this year over 60,000 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection in Kerry, more than 25,000 of which will be capable of delivering speeds of up to 1,000 Mpbs.

Delivering connectivity to the 542,000 premises, including the approximately 28,000 in Kerry, 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.