Eir expects State broadband scheme to be altered

Eir says it expects the National Broadband Plan to be altered to accommodate the roll-out of its new fibre network, which will supply more homes than the company previously envisaged.

The State's largest telco is pushing ahead with a plan to bring high-speed broadband to more than 300,000 homes in rural Ireland already earmarked for the State's subsidised scheme.

Eir plans to have up to 100,000 of these homes connected within 12 months and the by 2020.

“We believe that a proactive roll-out by Eir to the 300,000 footprint in rural areas will deliver high-speed broadband to those communities much faster than currently proposed under the National Broadband Plan” a spokesman said.

Subsidised contracts

The Government plans to award two subsidised contracts for the roll-out this year. The scheme is expected to cost up to €1.5 billion with the State stumping up roughly half the money.

Under EU state-aid rules, it cannot subsidise an intervention if a private operator is willing to supply the same area on a commercial basis.

Minister for Communications Alex White has indicated he will change the proposed intervention footprint, which covers 750,000 homes and premises, to reflect the business plans of commercial operators.

However, rival telecom firms say removing 300,000 homes from the tender would make it unworkable as the contract requires a blend of semi-commercial and non-commercial buy-in to make it viable.

The deadline for the submission of initial tender documents is March 31st after which bidders will be invited to take part in a dialogue process with the department.