Press release
Update on the delivery of the National Broadband Plan
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) continues to deliver on the government’s commitment to ensure every citizen, wherever they are in the country, has access to the internet via high-speed broadband.
With speeds of 500Mbps, the NBP supports citizens, workers, students, businesses and farmers, connecting people with new opportunities and removing the digital divide between rural and urban communities in Ireland.
Despite the ongoing challenges associated with COVID-19, significant progress has been made in the first half of this year, with a number of key milestones achieved and momentum building on the project.
COVID-19 has had an impact on the delivery of the NBP network. In May 2021, we approved NBI’s Remedial Plan for 2021 to reflect revised targets for the year taking into account delays encountered due to the pandemic and challenges around programme ramp up and network rollout.
The updated contracted target under this plan is almost 60,000 premises passed by the end of December 2021.
So far in 2021, over 12,000 premises have been passed and are available for connection. Over 19,000 premises are available for pre-order and order through a Retail Service Provider (RSP) to NBP network - and this will continue to increase as deployment ramps up throughout 2021.
The NBP is being rolled out through Deployment Areas (DAs) – 227 individual areas across the country. An individual DA may cross over more than one county or townland, so while a DA may be named after a town or county, this does not indicate that whole area is currently being surveyed, built or connected, but rather a part of it.
To find out more about DAs and how the roll out works, visit the NBI website.
As of 23 July:
Main build works have now been completed in two DAs, in Counties Galway and Cavan, with premises already able to pre-order or order connection in these areas. Further pre-build and main build works are ongoing across the country, covering over 90,000 premises.
Main build works are progressing with first premises being made available for connection to the NBP Network in 2021 in the following DAs: Ballinasloe, Carrigaline, Dundalk, Limerick, Monaghan, Kilcoole, Roscommon, Tipperary and Tralee.
Dates for first available connections in early 2022 are also estimated for the following DAs: Carlow, Castlebar, Killarney, Mullingar, Sligo, Waterford and Wexford.
Surveying and Design work continues across an additional 53 Deployment Areas.
You can find out more about Deployment Areas and timelines for completion on the NBI website.
NBI is working to publish details of the NBP seven-year network deployment plan on its website, making more information available around estimated surveying and connection timelines to those in the NBP Intervention Area.
This information will give greater clarity to homeowners, businesses, farms and community groups on when they can expect access to the NBP network, allowing them to make decisions around their work, learning and home life options. This is expected to be completed by the end of August 2021.
NBI is a wholesale provider which means it makes the network available to Retail Service Providers (such as sky, Vodafone, Pure Telecom, Westnet, Regional Broadband, BBnet, eir, IFA telecom, Eurona broadband, Nova, Digiweb, Viatel, Mayofibre, etc) to connect and provide the service to end users.
45 Retail Service Providers (RSPs) will be offering services on the NBP network to customers across Ireland, creating greater competition, choice and value to consumers.
Currently, 19 RSPs are actively selling on the NBP Network with over 19,000 premises (across Cavan, Clare, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Monaghan, Roscommon) now available for order and pre-order through local broadband service providers.
You can find out more about getting connected and the RSPs set up and certified to sell network services on the NBP network on the NBI website.
Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) provide wireless connectivity, to support remote working and connected communities by providing access to free public high-speed broadband in advance of the main fibre deployment under the National Broadband Plan.
The BCP project is now well under way, with a focus on strategic public locations and National Schools within the Intervention Area. The launch of the Department of Rural and Community Development’s "Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021-2025" in March further underpins the ways in which the NBP will deliver enhanced connectivity for Irish citizens, communities and businesses.
The 200th BCP was connected and launched at Drumhowan Community Centre in County Monaghan, in June.
Meanwhile, Cavan County Council was supported by NBI at the launch of their Connected Cavan Digital Strategy for 2021-2024 in July – a plan which will leverage high-speed broadband to support citizens, business and visitors to harness the potential of a digitally enabled community.
More widely, as of 23 July:
679 National Schools in the Intervention Area will be connected to high-speed broadband under the National Broadband Plan, supported by the Department of Education. In December 2020, the government announced that all of these schools will be connected by the end of 2022, by a wireless or fibre connection.
In May 2021, the first school BCP was connected to the NBP fibre network and is benefiting from speeds of 500Mbps (Kilmore National School, Ballinagh, Co. Cavan).
As of 23 July:
To find out whether your premises is in the Intervention Area, please check out our interactive map.
Any consumer in a Blue area who is experiencing difficulties in obtaining high speed broadband - that is defined as minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload – should contact their broadband service provider to investigate the issue and to determine the reason why broadband speeds are slow or that service cannot be provided.
Further details on the roll out and NBI activity are available through the NBI website.
For any other queries, you can contact NBI by email contactus@nbi.ie or by phone 0818 624 624.