Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 October 2022
197. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications when he expects to see fibre broadband rolled-out in urban and rural areas (details supplied) in County Tipperary in tabular form in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53369/22]
View answerThe NBP contract, which was signed on 19 November 2019, provides that a future proofed high-speed broadband network will be deployed by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to people living and working in the intervention area. It is expected that over 600,000 premises will be passed including new builds. I am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 14 October 2022, over 97,000 premises can order or pre-order a high-speed broadband connection across 25 counties, with over 87,700 premises passed across 25 counties and available for immediate connection. Construction is underway across 26 counties demonstrating that the project is reaching scale. To date, the level of connections is increasing on a daily basis and is in line with or exceeding expectations. NBI has advised that over 5,125 premises in County Tipperary are passed with a high-speed fibre broadband network and are available for immediate connection.
Further details are available on specific areas within County Tipperary through the NBI website which provides a facility for any premises within the intervention area to register their interest in being provided with deployment updates through its website www.nbi.ie Individuals who register with this facility will receive regular updates on progress by NBI on delivering the network and specific updates related to their own premises as works commence. NBI has a dedicated email address, reps@nbi.ie, which can be used by Oireachtas members for specific queries.
NBI has made recent improvements to their website to enhance the provision of information. NBI has now completed a suite of changes, creating a portal that will serve as a means for Oireachtas members to proactively search for information relevant to their county/local area. The portal provides an up-to-date picture of NBI’s deployment schedule across the 227 Deployment Areas (DAs) in all 26 counties. A particular county can be selected to view an update of the overall number of premises in the Intervention Area, the overall NBP investment in the county, the number of premises passed and connected to date and the status of each of the Deployment Areas with the anticipated date for connection over the lifetime of the project. The dedicated webpage can be accessed here: www.nbi.ie
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. Some 758 BCP sites have been installed by NBI to date and the high-speed broadband service will be switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for school BCPs. In County Tipperary 20 BCP’s have been installed to date. Further details can be found at nbi.ie/bcp-locations/
In County Tipperary 32 schools have been installed by NBI to date for educational access. My Department continues to work with the Department of Education to prioritise schools with no high-speed broadband, within the Intervention Area. Further details of schools in scope are available on the NBI website at nbi.ie/primary-schools-list/
