Coomhola and Borlin valleys 'want in' on NBP

COMMUNITIES living just outside the broadband reach in West Cork are suffering unduly because they cannot avail of normal facilities like online bank or tax payments, or other regular transactions.
Cllr Christopher O’Sullivan (FF) said this week that about 380 houses in the Coomhola and Borlin valleys are calling on the government to include them in plans to extend internet reach.
A motion to the Minister for Communications Alex White, to urge him to extend the Rural Broadband Scheme to include the valleys, was unanimously supported at the Western Divisional Committee meeting of councillors on Monday.
The motion, tabled by Cllr O’Sullivan, drew attention to the fact that a list was published last April detailing the 108 towns and villages in West Cork that would be included in the next phase of the Rural Broadband Scheme.

Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte the correct procedure to advance the case for inclusion of any given area in the fibre roll-out plan announced on 25 April; the criteria his Department will use in assessing additional areas for inclusion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28521/14]

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Deputy Pat Rabbitte):... A comprehensive mapping exercise is underway in my Department, working closely with telecommunications service providers. This exercise will identify those areas that will require a State intervention. I have published a county-by-county list of towns and villages which have already been identified for a fibre build-out. This list is available on my Department's website, www.dcenr.gov.ie. This is an indicative list and is subject to the completion of the mapping exercise. Further locations may be identified as this process continues. Similarly, it may be determined that some locations on the list will be addressed by the commercial sector and will therefore not require a State intervention. I would point out that the EU Commission's guidelines for the application of State aid rules precludes Member States from intervening in regions in which private investors have demonstrated plans to roll out their own infrastructure within the following three years.

I have recently launched a stakeholder consultation on the implementation of the State-led intervention. This consultation, among other things, seeks views on the proposed criteria to be used in finalising those locations which require a State intervention. The outcome of this consultation will enable finalisation of the mapping exercise, which I expect will be concluded in the autumn.