‘Survey pending’ for several local areas awaiting broadband

Timelines for the National Broadband Plan were sought recently in the Dáil as Cork East TD James O’Connor queried how long connection under the National Broadband Plan should take for newbuilds in the ready-toconnect areas.

Locally, the rollout continues, however, several local areas remain on the ‘survey pending’ list, with longer anticipated connection dates cited for the area. The Fermoy and Tallow areas all now have surveys completed.

With 3,914 premises listed in the Fermoy area, the locality is anticipated for connection between January 2024 and December 2026, while 3,105 premises in Tallow are anticipated for connection between July and December next year.

‘Surveying is now complete for your area. Our teams are now working on the detailed network design to bring high-speed broadband to your area,’ National Broadband Ireland (NBI) states in relation to these areas.

Mitchelstown, however, is among those locations where a survey is still pending, with 1,624 premises awaiting connection. In relation to this, NBI state that they are ‘actively working to accelerate the rollout of high-speed fibre broadband’ in the area.

MIDLETON & YOUGHAL AVAILABLE

Both Midleton and Youghal are now available for connection or preorder, with over 8,000 premises in Midleton and over 2,000 in Youghal.

Cahir, with 3,178 premises has also seen the completion of a survey, with anticipated connection dates listed between May and June this year.

Also awaiting surveys are the deployment areas of Killavullen, Grenagh and Charleville.

QUARTERLY UPDATES

Speaking in the Dáil, Cork East TD James O’Sullivan said that it is ‘great’ to see progress being made on the rollout of broadband, however, there is a lack of clarity for new builds.

“What is the process for a person with a new build in a readyto-connect area who wants to get a broadband connection? What is the Department doing to help them?” Deputy O’Sullivan asked.

Responding, Green Party TD Ossian Smyth said that all new-build premises in the state intervention area are covered under the NBP project.

“NBI identifies new premises via Geodirectory updates that are added to the NBP intervention area on a quarterly basis. NBI then undertakes an assessment of the new premises and determines what is required in order for them to be connected to the NBI network in the relevant area.

“Depending on the outcome of that assessment process, a premises may be part of a future planned build programme or there may be additional work required to connect it if the network build has already begun. The assessment will determine the date for final connection,” he said.