Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 June 2016
195. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if there is a cost differential to the State in defining a minimum 100 Mbps broadband speed rather than a 30 Mbps broadband speed for the roll-out of the national broadband plan; and, if so, what is that differential. [18637/16]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. Delivery of high speed broadband is a strategic priority under the Programme for a Partnership Government. This is being achieved through private investment by commercial telecommunications companies and through a State intervention in areas where commercial investment is not forthcoming.
The State intervention to address the identified deficit in access to High Speed Broadband in Ireland was guided by a set of intervention principles that are aligned with the State Aid Guidelines (SAG) namely:
- technology neutrality
- use of existing infrastructure
- effective wholesale access
- step change in broadband availability
- step change in broadband customer experience
- future-proofed technology.
In order to assess the case for intervention the Department conducted detailed cost modelling and financial appraisal models over very complex design simulations. The costings and key assumptions have been used to design the National Broadband Plan (NBP) Intervention Strategy. These key assumptions form part of the bid evaluation within the procurement process and if publically made known would undermine the integrity of a competitive procurement process.
The Broadband Intervention strategy for Ireland available on my Department's website sets out a detailed service specification including a requirement that the State-funded network must:
- be capable of delivering high-quality, high speed broadband of at least 30mbps download and 6mbps upload to all citizens.
- be capable of catering for higher performance in the future so as to keep pace with consumer demand.
- ensure the availability of high quality wholesale services to allow retail competition to develop
The emphasis therefore is on putting in place a high quality infrastructure network capable of being scaled up to meet current and future demand, with 30Mbps as a minimum rather than a ceiling for consumers.
In addition, the intervention strategy also requires measures to meet the specific needs of businesses as well as ensuring scalability in terms of future anticipated growth in demand for bandwidth. Bidder(s) will therefore be invited to put forward minimum speeds for businesses, which can be built into the service standards of the winning bidder(s) contract. The winning bidder(s) network will be subject to periodic reviews on a 3-5 year basis to ensure that it is keeping pace with demand.
