Dooley: NBP cost per home may rise 'very significantly'

The cost per household of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) is in danger of rising “very significantly”, Fianna Fail TD Timmy Dooley has warned.

Speaking at a sitting of the Dail yesterday (Tuesday, February 19), Dooley – his party’s spokesperson on communications – said that announcements last week from private companies that they would be introducing broadband in the ‘intervention area’ would place the burden of cost on less homes.

The intervention area refers to parts of the country the Government has identified as being in need of high-speed broadband, which has been targeted in the NBP. Initially this was set at 750,000 homes, according to Richard Bruton, Minister for Communication, Climate Action and the Environment.

The Clare TD warned that if private companies roll out operations within the intervention area, the cost of the NBP would nonetheless remain the same, thereby spreading the cost burden across fewer households.

Dooley was referring to recent announcements from communication companies Eir and Imagine, that would see approximately 400,000 homes in the intervention area supplied with broadband.

“If the intervention area shrinks by 400,000 over night, what happens in terms of costs for the state? Has the cost per household for the roll-out increased or decreased as a result of the announcements last week?” Dooley asked the minister.

If it is the case that the intervention area is to change very significantly, then it is absolutely clear that – if the 120,000 homes that are still not covered by any of the commercial operators are to be facilitated – the cost effectively remains the same, because to roll out broadband to areas concerned, it’s the same network you will have to roll out.

“So the cost per household goes up very significantly,” claimed Dooley.

Minister Bruton moved to ally the concerns, saying that the companies concerned had not yet submitted any of the relevant documentation to the department, and that he would seek a meeting with both parties to discuss their plans.

The minister also said that the amount of homes that would be removed from the intervention area by the announcements was not yet clear.

“In order to determine if they have reduced the size of the intervention area, we will have to have that level of scrutiny on their proposals,” explained the minister.

Minister Bruton concluded his response to Dooley by saying that he would be “listening closely” to Eir and Imagine before giving an indication on how their plans effect the NBP.