What is Broadband?
Broadband is a type of internet connection that has high speed capabilities for transferring data. Before broadband was available, the most common internet access was achieved with ‘narrowband’ dial-up connections; this was very slow by current standards. Today, broadband is a much faster connection that allows us to do so much more on the internet.
The National Broadband Plan
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is a government initiative to deliver high speed broadband services to all businesses and households in Ireland. The NBP defines high speed broadband as a minimum speed of 30Mbps always-on download and 6Mbps upload.
At the moment, progress on national broadband services are being achieved through a combination of:
- Commercial investment by the telecommunications sector
- State intervention in those areas where commercial providers acting alone will not provide this essential service
NBP - State Intervention
The Government Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) are responsible for delivery of the NBP State Intervention. They are currently in the process of appointing a 'preferred bidder' /contractor for the building-out of the infrastructure for the NBP. Please click the following links for more information on the NBP latest news and the procurement process.
On the DCCAE website, the High Speed Broadband Map gives details about broadband availability to your premises. It illustrates where a premises resides within the NBP interactive mapping zones and offers information and relevant advice based on your premises location. See the Frequently Asked Questions and NBP Information Leaflets for more useful information.
Latest Statistics for NBP
- The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector - commercial operators have spent €2.75 billion over the past five years, with further investment recently announced
- In 2012, less than 700,000, or 30% of all 2.4 million Irish premises had access to high speed broadband;
- Today, 74% of premises can access high speed broadband (April 2019).