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National Broadband Ireland : implementation and progress

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    #422
    TheSegal
    Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭TheSegal


    joe123 wrote: »
    With a few areas now showing on the NBI's map as "Surveying Underway" with an anticipated date of Dec 2020 to Feb 2021 as a date, I'm wondering am I being overly optimistic to expect Fibre in 2021 sometime for my own area?

    Its down as premises pending survey but speaking with NBI reps, they confirmed that surveying had taken place in my area recently and will be updating the map soon.

    Considering they havent started in other counties yet, I'm thinking this could be a positive sign?

    What county are you in?


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    #423
    joe123
    Registered Users Posts: 6,521 ✭✭✭joe123


    TheSegal wrote: »
    What county are you in?

    Galway.


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    #424
    TheSegal
    Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭TheSegal


    joe123 wrote: »
    Galway.

    I think you can be pretty confident so since Galway was listed as one of the first areas to get fiber under the NBP along with Cork as far as I'm aware. They have surveyed Claregalway, Clarinbridge, and Furbo. I'm between Claregalway and Oranmore so fingers crossed I'll be part of the first rollout!


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    #425
    joe123
    Registered Users Posts: 6,521 ✭✭✭joe123


    TheSegal wrote: »
    I think you can be pretty confident so since Galway was listed as one of the first areas to get fiber under the NBP along with Cork as far as I'm aware. They have surveyed Claregalway, Clarinbridge, and Furbo. I'm between Claregalway and Oranmore so fingers crossed I'll be part of the first rollout!

    I've seen some places near claregalway give the date mentioned above. I'm based in Headford so fingers crossed. As it's only a portion of the town I'm hoping they'll aim to pick off those areas sooner rather than later.


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    #426
    heavydawson
    Registered Users Posts: 1,152 ✭✭✭heavydawson


    https://twitter.com/adrianweckler/status/1265724493630242856


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    #427
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    FTTH Council Europe virtual Spring General Assembly 2020 presentation.

    https://twitter.com/FTTHCouncilEU/status/1265621347390107649?s=09


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    #428
    mp3guy
    Registered Users Posts: 3,958 ✭✭✭mp3guy


    heavydawson wrote: »
    https://twitter.com/adrianweckler/status/1265724493630242856

    At this rate I'll have fiber yesterday.


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    #429
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    https://twitter.com/adrianweckler/status/1265751282662486019
    Government negotiating to cut National Broadband Plan rollout from seven to five years

    The government has asked the National Broadband Plan firm to shorten the rollout period from seven to five years.

    Speaking in the Dail, Communications Minister Richard Bruton said that he has asked National Broadband Ireland, the company that won the state’s €3bn rural broadband tender, to restructure the rollout so that those who were scheduled to wait until the last two-year phase of the plan are connected sooner.

    The contract timetable currently promises the service to 250,000 rural residents by the end of 2021, with the remaining homes to be connected over a five year period.

    “My officials are currently in discussion with the company… to investigate the feasibility of accelerating the rollout of the National Broadband Plan, so that those now [scheduled] in year six and seven could be brought forward,” Mr Bruton said in the Dail.

    “The target is to try, from the second half of next year, to accelerate the rollout. I hope that this can be achieved.”

    Mr Bruton said that 80 community broadband connection points promised under the NBP rollout plan will be completed “by the end of the summer”, with a further 220 such connection points completed by the end of 2020.

    The National Broadband Plan is to provide ‘full fibre’ broadband connections to 540,000 rural homes and businesses.

    “I think in this crisis, people can see the value of being connected, no matter where you’re living,” he said. “I think the reasons why we pushed ahead with this are becoming more clear to people. Delivering services remotely are more valued now.”

    A spokesperson for NBI was unable to comment on Mr Bruton’s remarks.

    https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/news/government-negotiating-to-cut-national-broadband-plan-rollout-from-seven-to-five-years-39239552.html
    Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 27 May 2020
    Covid-19 (Communications, Climate Action and Environment): Statements

    Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Deputy Richard Bruton): ... People will not be surprised when I give a plug to the national broadband plan, which I know came in for considerable criticism in the previous Dáil, but in this crisis people can see the value of services like ehealth, being able to be connected regardless of where one is living and having the opportunity of remote working.

    The reasons we pushed ahead with that are becoming clearer to people and the benefits of delivering service remotely are also more valued. I have asked my officials to investigate the feasibility of accelerating the roll-out of the national broadband plan so that those now in years six and seven can be brought forward. The target is to try, from the second half of next year, to accelerate the roll-out. I hope that can be achieved and I think it is a very important service.


    Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Deputy Richard Bruton): The position on the national broadband plan is as I outlined. I am now seeking to accelerate it so that people in the sixth and seventh year could be brought forward. My officials are in discussions with the company to see if we can accelerate the roll-out from the end of the second half of next year.

    Regarding this year, 80 of the broadband contact connection points will be rolled out by the end of summer with the rest of them, some 298, to be done by the end of the year. These will be flagship projects which will provide the opportunity for hubs to be developed. The kit-out of those broadband connection points is being organised by my colleague, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, and his Department. The tender for that has been allocated and that work is being undertaken.


    https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2020-05-27/12/


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    #430
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    "entegro awarded survey and design contract by National Broadband Ireland"

    https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/business/545951/entegro-awarded-survey-and-design-contract-by-national-broadband-ireland.html
    https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/kilkenny-based-entegro-creates-50-jobs-from-broadband-contract-1.4263845


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    #431
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Need we say more. I wonder how Timmy Dooley is doing?
    Deputy Frankie Feighan: Over the past few months, certainly with Covid-19, many people are considering living and working in rural Ireland. Many Members in the Houses use the national broadband plan as a political football and now the same people are calling for greater access across the State. They are demanding more connectivity. The broadband operators are seeing 30% more use in broadband. Politicians in this House are using broadband and I do not know how we would have gotten over the Covid-19 crisis only for that huge connectivity. The weather is also helping.


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    #432
    joe123
    Registered Users Posts: 6,521 ✭✭✭joe123


    The Cush wrote: »
    Need we say more. I wonder how Timmy Dooley is doing?

    I've seen him mentioned a few times in this thread now. What exactly was his story?


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    #433
    Mc Love
    Registered Users Posts: 14,015 ✭✭✭✭Mc Love


    joe123 wrote: »
    I've seen him mentioned a few times in this thread now. What exactly was his story?

    Do a search on Google - he more or less called the NBP a sham or PR exercise. :rolleyes:


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    #434
    fergus1001
    Registered Users Posts: 2,625 ✭✭✭fergus1001


    Mc Love wrote:
    Do a search on Google - he more or less called the NBP a sham or PR exercise.


    thank god he lost his seat


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    #435
    Ultimanemo
    Registered Users Posts: 890 ✭✭✭Ultimanemo


    joe123 wrote: »
    I've seen him mentioned a few times in this thread now. What exactly was his story?
    He was FF TD he was doing everything he could to stop the NBP "just because it is FG project".


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    #436
    Atomic Pineapple
    Registered Users Posts: 18,272 ✭✭✭✭Atomic Pineapple


    How was 7 years ever even considered an acceptable timeline in the first place!? Sake!


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    #437
    fergus1001
    Registered Users Posts: 2,625 ✭✭✭fergus1001


    Atomic Pineapple wrote:
    How was 7 years ever even considered an acceptable timeline in the first place!? Sake!


    possibly put a worse case scenario on it so they could look good when it came in quicker than expected .... I hope


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    #438
    davpower
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭davpower


    Noticed that my local BCP which was 2Km from my house is no longer appearing on NBI's website. The closest one is now 20km away. Could this mean that the FTTH could be rolled out sooner in my area, with no requirement for BCP? Premises still shows as pending survey. Living in east cork.


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    #439
    TheSegal
    Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭TheSegal


    davpower wrote: »
    Noticed that my local BCP which was 2Km from my house is no longer appearing on NBI's website. The closest one is now 20km away. Could this mean that the FTTH could be rolled out sooner in my area, with no requirement for BCP? Premises still shows as pending survey. Living in east cork.

    The BCP that was nearest to me in Briarhill NS has disappeared from the list of nearby ones when I check the NBI plans. But when I checked the school the BCP was in, the status changed to 'for school business' or something along those lines. I think they must have realised that they couldn't have a place where people pull up to work with laptops remotely in a national school!


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    #440
    davpower
    Registered Users Posts: 75 ✭✭davpower


    TheSegal wrote: »
    The BCP that was nearest to me in Briarhill NS has disappeared from the list of nearby ones when I check the NBI plans. But when I checked the school the BCP was in, the status changed to 'for school business' or something along those lines. I think they must have realised that they couldn't have a place where people pull up to work with laptops remotely in a national school!

    You're right, I just checked the eircode for the BCP which was a NS and it says "school related activities only". Always thought it was a bit strange that they were using national schools. Anyway burst my bubble for early FTTH!:(


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    #441
    westyIrl
    Registered Users Posts: 510 ✭✭✭westyIrl


    Seems like NBI must have filtered national schools off the list in recent days as the local one to me was also removed. Now my nearest is on Inishbofin....just a ferry trip away. I think these BCPs are becoming irrelevant.

    Jim


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    #442
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Just noticed the same, one of my 2 BCPs was a national school, now replaced by a community centre.


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    #443
    Fuascailteoir
    Registered Users Posts: 605 ✭✭✭Fuascailteoir


    westyIrl wrote: »
    Seems like NBI must have filtered national schools off the list in recent days as the local one to me was also removed. Now my nearest is on Inishbofin....just a ferry trip away. I think these BCPs are becoming irrelevant.

    Jim

    They should pull the plug on the BCPs and just focus on the FTTH network.


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    #444
    Gooey Looey
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭Gooey Looey


    Fuascailteoir wrote: »
    They should pull the plug on the BCPs and just focus on the FTTH network.

    I think it's meant to fill in the gap while they are surveying, may not speed up the project in any way


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    #445
    Fuascailteoir
    Registered Users Posts: 605 ✭✭✭Fuascailteoir


    Gooey Looey wrote: »
    I think it's meant to fill in the gap while they are surveying, may not speed up the project in any way

    Will be a waste of money given the current climate.


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    #446
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Fuascailteoir wrote: »
    They should pull the plug on the BCPs and just focus on the FTTH network.

    Probably too late now, the Rural Affairs Dept has already tendered for the CPE kit to be installed in the BCP locations.


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    #447
    listermint
    Registered Users Posts: 33,820 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    The Cush wrote: »
    Probably too late now, the Rural Affairs Dept has already tendered for the CPE kit to be installed in the BCP locations.

    Unless tenders have been agreed and signed then it's never too late.


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    #448
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    listermint wrote: »
    Unless tenders have been agreed and signed then it's never too late.

    True but mentioned in the Dáil last week the contracts have been signed.

    I assume NBI will start receiving NBP cash once the BCPs start rolling out this summer, 80 by the end of the summer.
    Deputy Richard Bruton: ... Regarding this year, 80 of the broadband contact connection points will be rolled out by the end of summer with the rest of them, some 298, to be done by the end of the year. These will be flagship projects which will provide the opportunity for hubs to be developed. The kit-out of those broadband connection points is being organised by my colleague, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Ring, and his Department. The tender for that has been allocated and that work is being undertaken.
    Deputy Richard Bruton: ... A tender has been successfully awarded by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The company that was successful will kit those out to develop the hubs. It is recognised that some will be more suitable locations than others and we will try to ensure that those that have the capacity to be kitted out with hot desks and so forth will be developed in that way. My Department is determined to do that.
    Deputy Richard Bruton: ... We will light up, not with fibre, but with high-speed broadband 150 Mbps capacity and some 270 broadband connection points. Those points have been selected by local authorities and are in every county. They have been designed and selected to have that sort of hub capacity in them. They have been surveyed and solutions have been found for most of them. The Department of Rural and Community Development, which is the Department of the Minister, Deputy Ring, has done the contracts so they will be kitted out. Not all of them will have the same capacity as others to be a hotspot. It will depend on their makeup and so on. They have been selected on that basis to make an impact.

    Network-diagram.png

    Lot 1. Region 1: Clare, Cork County, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford.
    (There are currently 70 confirmed sites in Lot 1, with the potential to increase to approximately 80 sites)

    Lot 2. Region 2: Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford, Wicklow.
    (There are currently 69 confirmed sites in Lot 2, with the potential to increase to approximately 80 sites)

    Lot 3: Region 3: Galway City, Galway County, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo.
    (There are currently 73 confirmed sites in Lot 3, with the potential to increase to approximately 80 sites)

    Lot 4: Region 4: Cavan, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Donegal, Fingal, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, South Dublin, Westmeath.
    (There are currently 72 confirmed sites in Lot 4, with the potential to increase to approximately 80 sites)

    The Contracting Authority estimates that the expenditure on the Services to be covered by the proposed maximum Services Contracts(both capital and recurrent current costs) may amount to some €800,000 (maximum) (excl. VAT) over the Term and any possible extensions.

    Any contract that may result from this Competition (the “Services Contract”) will be issued for a term of 3 years (“the Term”).
    The Contracting Authority reserves the right to extend the Term for a period or periods of up to 1 year with a maximum of 2 years such extension or extensions on the same terms and conditions, subject to the Contracting Authority’s obligations at law.


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    #449
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    The total amount spent on the National Broadband Plan over the past five years is €40,427,264 (including VAT).

    Year|| Amount Spent

    2020||€13,568,565
    2019||€6,131,959
    2018||€8,330,653
    2017||€10,050,428
    2016||€2,345,659


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    #450
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    On BCPs and schools, this came up in the Dáil last week
    Deputy Jennifer Whitmore: ... There are problems with Internet connections in our schools.

    We need rural co-working hubs that offer people the opportunity to work remotely and we need our schools connected and enabled to teach in a progressively technological manner. I cannot see, however, how providing high-speed public access broadband to schools and sport centres under this programme will meet the needs of either those facilities or the local community. I certainly cannot see how many of them will meet the needs of remote workers. For example, how does the Minister envisage a school providing an opportunity for remote working for local people? Would a person just drive up, sit in his or her car and access the Internet from there? Would schools have to open in the evening to facilitate remote access to the Internet? There are significant child protection issues associated with using schools as remote working hubs. Conflating the two needs, providing broadband to schools and providing for remote working opportunities, will mean that neither need will be sufficiently met.
    Deputy Richard Bruton: ... The Deputy is correct that there is a difficulty with schools. The schools are private patron models so they most likely will not be making their premises available so workers can come in and be involved in remote working. However, they represent a small proportion of them. I believe 75 to 80 of them are in schools. In an ideal world one would see our schools being more open to that wider community participation, but in the past when I was Minister for Education and Skills I found it very difficult to bring patron bodies along to support new activities. That is likely to be a problem.

    Obviously, kitting these out will be crucial. A tender has been successfully awarded by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The company that was successful will kit those out to develop the hubs. It is recognised that some will be more suitable locations than others and we will try to ensure that those that have the capacity to be kitted out with hot desks and so forth will be developed in that way. My Department is determined to do that.


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    #451
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,517 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    NBI comments on the government's plan to accelerate the rollout of the NBP
    The National Broadband Plan could be rolled out in five years instead of seven, the organisation behind the project has said.

    National Broadband Ireland has said that it is working with officials at the Department of Communications to see if the €3 billion national broadband plan can be sped up.

    Peter Hendrick, the chief executive of NBI, said the consortium is committed to rolling out high-speed rural broadband to 540,000 homes, schools and businesses ahead of schedule, and the pandemic has increased the urgency of achieving that.
    ...

    “NBI remains committed to rolling out the National Broadband Plan ahead of time, and our regular discussions with the department include exploring how that might be expedited.”

    Mr Hendrick would not comment on the cost implications of the move, but a source familiar with the project said: “I wouldn’t make an assumption that costs will go up, as there are a lot of elements to the project, so it could involve reshaping or redrawing some of those.”

    Richard Bruton, the communications minister, told the Dáil last week he had asked his officials to investigate the feasibility of accelerating the roll-out of the NBP so that communities in years six and seven of the plan, due to be 2025 and 2026, are brought forward to 2024.

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/national-broadband-plan-could-be-accelerated-b3qmg78fc?t=ie


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