Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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445. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 216 of 17 April 2019, the status of the over 300 sites that have been identified for early connection under the national broadband plan. [46208/19]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Government appointed National Broadband Ireland (NBI) as the Preferred Bidder for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) in May 2019. Since then my officials have been performing the necessary financial and contractual due diligence work needed before a contract can be concluded. The Department’s work is well progressed and, pending Government approval, I expect to sign the contract before the end of the year after which deployment will commence.

The Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are included in the overall scope of the National Broadband Plan and NBI’s solution which was submitted and evaluated as part of their final tender submission. In the first year of roll out, the NBI will deploy over 300 BCPs across all counties. It is anticipated that between 7 and 23 BCPs will be deployed in each county. BCPs will provide communities with a high speed broadband service, enhancing online participation and allowing for the establishment of digital work hubs in these locations.