Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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705. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when broadband will be available in an area (details supplied). [7089/20]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The government is committed to delivering high speed broadband to every home, farm, business and school in Ireland.

The Question refers to a premises which is located in the AMBER area on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led Intervention, the contract for which was signed in November last with National Broadband Ireland (NBI).

All counties will see premises passed in the first 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband within the next four years. The NBP network will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 150Mbps from the outset. By the end of next year, NBI plans to pass in the region of 115,000 premises, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until rollout is completed. Further details are available at the NBI website www.nbi.ie

While I note that there is fibre installation close to the premises mentioned in the Question, eir’s rural deployment of high speed broadband is a commercial undertaking and not part of the planned State Intervention network. Decisions regarding what areas and premises were served was made a commercial basis by eir and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that process.

To support remote working and connected communities, approximately 300 Broadband Connections Points (BCPs) were identified by Local Authorities to be connected to high speed broadband this year. This will assist communities to quickly get free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main NBP deployment. The planned BCP locations, including schools, library hubs, local sports facilities and other public places are available to view on the High Speed Broadband Map on the Department’s website www.broadband.gov.ie. The BCP delivery project is well underway and surveying of the BCP locations is progressing which will facilitate detailed design and installation. BCP locations are subject to change and a number of the premises initially identified are in the process of being replaced with alternative locations. The remaining BCPs remain on track for delivery by the end of 2020.

The BCPs in identified public places will leverage the high speed broadband connection through a range of measures and initiatives, for example providing free public Wi-Fi, some will also have hot-desks, and some will be digital hub business centres where digital training, business information events and other SME supports are organised.

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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706. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if the possibility of improving poor broadband connectivity in Tinoran, County Wicklow will be investigated (details supplied). [7210/20]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Question refers to premises that are in the townlands of Tinoran, Co.Wicklow and Moone, Co. Kildare.

A number of these premises are within the BLUE area on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. Within the BLUE area, commercial operators are already providing high speed broadband or have stated their intention to provide high speed broadband in future. My Department defines high speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. Commercial activities of operators delivering high speed broadband are not planned or funded by the State and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that process.

There may be a choice of operators offering this service in the area referred to and further information in this regard is available at www.comreg.ie/compare/#/services.​

The remaining premises are located within the AMBER area on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led Intervention which will offer users a high speed broadband service with a minimum download speed of 150Mbps from the outset.

The contract for this work was signed with National Broadband Ireland (NBI) last November and by the end of next year, NBI plans to pass in the region of 115,000 premises, with 70,000 - 100,000 passed each year thereafter until rollout is completed. All counties will see premises passed in the next 2 years and over 90% of premises in the State will have access to high speed broadband within the next four years. Further information on deployment activities is available on NBI’s website (www.nbi.ie).

To support remote working and connected communities, approximately 300 Broadband Connections Points (BCPs) were identified by Local Authorities to be connected to high speed broadband this year. This will assist communities to quickly get free public access to high speed broadband in advance of the main NBP deployment. The planned BCP locations, including schools, library hubs, local sports facilities and other public places are available to view on the High Speed Broadband Map on the Department’s website www.broadband.gov.ie. The BCP delivery project is well underway and surveying of the BCP locations is progressing which will facilitate detailed design and installation. BCP locations are subject to change and a number of the premises initially identified are in the process of being replaced with alternative locations. The remaining BCPs remain on track for delivery by the end of 2020.

The BCPs in identified public places will leverage the high speed broadband connection through a range of measures and initiatives, for example providing free public Wi-Fi, some will also have hot-desks, and some will be digital hub business centres where digital training, business information events and other SME supports are organised.