Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resource Pat Rabbitte (pictured) has announced the launch of the Rural Broadband Scheme (RBS). An expansion of the existing National Broadband Scheme, the RBS will target remote areas where no ISPs are operating.
The RBS will be carried out in co-operation with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the Rural Development Programme co-funded by the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development.
The Scheme aims to ensure 99% broadband access by the end of 2012. While the completion of the Government’s National Broadband Scheme (NBS) means that broadband services are now available throughout the country, there are remaining rural premises which could not be included in the NBS or which are difficult to reach for mainly technical reasons. The RBS is designed to identify those premises through a public application process and, ultimately, to bring a broadband service to them either through existing private sector service providers or through a service provider procured by Government.
“The combination of private and public investment in telecommunications infrastructure has meant over 99% broadband coverage for the whole country,” said Rabbitte. “I am now launching this Scheme to identify the remaining small percentage of premises that have not been able to procure a broadband service and to provide broadband to such premises which cannot be served by the existing market. My department will be accepting applications for a three-month period starting now, so there will be ample opportunity for people to come forward with details of premises that cannot obtain a service.”
The Scheme aims to identify the premises that cannot currently obtain a service and once all of these premises have been identified, to ascertain whether existing telecommunications operators can provide a service directly to these premises. If an existing service provider cannot be identified, the Department will seek to procure such a service. The combination of private and public sector programmes in the broadband market will ensure that Ireland reaches the EU target of ubiquitous basic broadband access by 2013.”
In tandem with this development, the Minister announced he intends to push ahead with discussions with the telecommunications sector with a view to establishing a roadmap for the delivery of next generation broadband in Ireland in line with the commitments in the Government’s National Recovery Programme.
Under the NewEra proposals in the Programme for Government there is a commitment for NewEra to co-invest with the private sector and commercial semi-State sector to provide next generation broadband to every home and business in the State. Consideration on how best to advance these proposals, for which Minister of State Fergus O’Dowd has responsibility, is being advanced.
Full details of the Rural Broadband Scheme are available on www.dcenr.ie.
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