National Broadband Plan benefits outlined in Independent Evaluation Report

• Five years on, the plan is delivering widespread direct and indirect benefits for businesses, homeowners and communities

The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has published the first independent evaluation report of the National Broadband Plan. Prepared by EY and based on extensive research, including interviews and focus groups, household surveys, and business surveys, the report highlights the direct and indirect benefits of the plan in improving the quality of life for those in the Intervention Area. The report also highlights the importance of flexibility in European State Aid rules which allows for the delivery of transformative digital connectivity to communities where broadband would have been financially unviable without State Aid support.

The report comes five years on from the Government signing the contract for National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to deliver the programme, following State Aid approval from the European Commission.

The contract provides for a future-proofed, high-speed broadband network to be deployed by NBI to people living and working in the State's Intervention Area. It is expected that over 600,000 premises will be passed by the National Broadband Plan network over the lifetime of the programme, including new builds. NBI is currently active in all 26 counties with over 328,300 premises now able to connect to the network and over 102,600 premises already connected.

Welcoming the report, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth said:

"Five years after the National Broadband Plan contract was signed, it is fascinating to see how this project is turning out. We knew already that project was on time and on budget but now we have credible evidence that the project is delivering higher benefits than expected. The take-up rate of people connecting to the service once it is available is higher than was projected. Every primary and secondary school in Ireland now has fast broadband. Thousands are now working and studying from their rural homes. Businesses, who were surveyed, reported an increase in customers."

The report outlines the following achievements and benefits of the rollout of the National Broadband Plan:

• 955 Strategic Community Points (SCPs) have been provided by National Broadband Ireland Infrastructure (NBII) up to the end of 2023 - comprising schools, community halls, Garda stations, libraries and other public spaces, providing free-to-access buildings with high-speed broadband to encourage remote working, cultural events, digital learning and more. These locations are expected to deliver benefits to local communities, including improved education, healthcare and access to Government services.
• There has been a positive impact on enterprise, increasing productivity, improving communication and reducing costs. The impact on the tourism and hospitality sector has resulted in increased business activity.
• In addition, there has been a positive impact on delivery of key Government policies, including the Digital Strategy for Schools, Remote Working Strategy, Digital Connectivity Strategy, Climate Action Plan, National Development Plan, Rural Development Policy, and National Islands Policy.
• The total number of Retail Service Providers in the Intervention Area has increased from 30 in 2021 to 59 in 2023, indicating positive impact on provider diversity and end-user choice.
• High-speed broadband prices in the Intervention Area are consistent with commercial area prices, and connected households can now avail of communications bundling.

The National Broadband Plan is already playing a crucial role in Ireland's climate and circular economy transition by driving more efficient resource management, enabling remote work and services, providing digital platforms for a sharing economy, and supporting smart grids and energy efficiency.

The full report can be accessed at the Independent Evaluation Report website .

ENDS

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure that every home, farm and business in Ireland - regardless of how remote or rural - has access to high-speed broadband. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has identified more than 569,000 premises across Ireland that require access to high-speed broadband. This is known as the Intervention Area (IA).

NBP Independent Interim Evaluation Report:

The European Commission's State Aid approval decision in respect of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) (SA.54472 (2019/N) - Ireland National Broadband Plan) subjects the NBP to robust evaluation reporting requirements exploring the impacts of the programme, as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of delivery and management, with a view to providing insight and observations for future State investment.

The Irish State has committed to commissioning three independently conducted evaluations of the NBP programme at various stages, with the associated reports submitted to the European Commission. Following a successful tendering process, EY was onboarded with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in January 2024 to conduct the first of these independent evaluations. EY's Interim Evaluation Report of the NBP, which is based on data provided by the Department correct to 31 December 2023, was completed in May 2024 and submitted to the European Commission for consideration. It is now being published.

EY's interim evaluation has made positive findings in terms of the delivery of the NBP Programme and its impact. It reports that the NBP rollout to date represents a significant step in Ireland's journey towards bridging the digital divide by providing location-agnostic, ubiquitous access to high-speed broadband. The evaluation found that much progress has been made in delivering the NBP programme and that it has resulted in numerous direct and indirect benefits in the Intervention Area such as improved Retail Service Provider competition, increased employment and enterprise productivity, and higher quality of life for households in the Intervention Area.

It further notes that the NBP rollout has also facilitated the delivery of Government policy across seven key Government policy initiatives, improving their reach or effectiveness, and concludes that these policies would have been less effective without the infrastructure made possible by the NBP.

EY's evaluation addressed 19 pre-determined questions, grouped into four overarching categories: Direct effects, Indirect effects, Effects on competition, and Proportionality and appropriateness. Key findings included:

Direct Effects: Coverage, Connections, Service Quality, NBII viability as WSP:

• NBII has made observable progress in terms of coverage and is on course to achieve total coverage by the end of the deployment period (October 2027).
• NBII has achieved notable growth in connections to date exceeding both its Bid and remedial targets in 2022 and exceeding its Bid target of 52,630 by the end of 2023. It has also connected all 955 SCPs, which are expected to deliver benefits to local communities. The robust take-up rate achieved is in part due to the demand stimulation activities undertaken by NBII.
• NBII has been successful in delivering high levels of service quality to the premises it has connected, delivering broadband speed and reliability in the Intervention Area that is equivalent to, and often surpassing, the levels experienced in commercial areas.
• The State aid has enabled NBII to become the third largest Wholesale Provider in Ireland, as measured by total subscribers. This was achieved through investment in passing and connecting premises in the IA. The total average cost of passing and connecting a premises in the IA (€2,156) compared to the cost in commercial areas (ranging from €597 to €1,053), supports that these investments would not have been financially viable without State aid.

Indirect Effects: Benefits to households & businesses, delivery of key Government policy initiatives:

• Access to high-speed broadband has resulted in tangible improvements to the lives of IA residents by enabling them to communicate more with friends and family, by improving access to education and employment opportunities, and by increasing the entertainment options available.
• The NBP has improved the attractiveness of premises within the IA as places to live, with 38% of the respondents who moved to the IA following the rollout stating that the availability of high-speed broadband influenced their decision to move to the area.
• The NBP has provided benefits to enterprises in the form of increased productivity levels, improved communication, and lowered costs. It has also impacted positively on businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector, with 58% reporting an increase in business activity as a direct result of upgrading to high-speed broadband and 33% reporting an increase in customer service scores or guest ratings post-upgrade.
• And notably, the NBP has aided the realisation and delivery of public policy priorities, having enabled and progressed key government policies, seven of which were explored in EY's evaluation: Digital Strategy for Schools, Remote Working Strategy, Digital Connectivity Strategy, Climate Action Plan, the National Development Plan, Rural Development Policy and National Islands Policy. For example, the vision of the Remote Working Strategy is being realised by the ability of IA residents to avail of the opportunity to work from home.

Effects on Competition:

• Competition within the IA Retail Service Provider (RSP) market has notably increased due to the NBP, with a rise in the number of RSPs offering services in the IA from 30 in 2021, to 59 in 2023. This increased competition is reflected in the fact that approximately 51% of IA businesses that availed of highspeed broadband services switched RSP post-upgrade.
• The NBP has ensured that end-users in the IA face similar prices for retail broadband services as those in the commercial area, which has benefited customers and ensures a level playing field for RSPs.
• IA households that connect to highspeed broadband are also now able to avail of cost savings from communications bundling, estimated to be worth €5 per month, or €60 per year.

Proportionality & Appropriateness: Subsidies received & Use of Physical Infrastructure:

• The subsidies received by NBII per premises passed (€2,632) and connected (€994) were assessed as being proportionate. They enabled NBII to deliver investment in passing and connections that would have otherwise been unviable in lieu of the subsidies, without resulting in excess profitability for NBII.
• NBII is renting a greater proportion of its physical infrastructure than planned, renting 97% of the poles it uses (compared to a planned 90%) and renting 29% more duct than planned, while building 52% less. This finding aligns with the State aid decision recommendation that NBII re-use suitable existing infrastructure in order to avoid unnecessary and wasteful duplication of resources.

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) - for Ireland:

Digital Connectivity Strategy:

In December 2022, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications published Ireland's Digital Connectivity Strategy. This Strategy supports the ambition outlined in the National Digital Strategy and sets out a number of ambitious targets, including that:

• all Irish households and businesses will be covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028;
• all populated areas will be covered by 5G no later than 2030; and
• digital connectivity will be delivered to all schools and broadband connection points (BCPs) by 2023.

National Broadband Plan:

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) is a core element of the implementation of the Digital Connectivity Strategy. The availability of high-speed, reliable, digital connectivity will support the delivery of Ireland's economic and social ambitions and will position Ireland at the forefront of European and global digital developments.

The Government is working to have all Irish households and businesses covered by a Gigabit network no later than 2028, and all populated areas covered by 5G no later than 2030.

The majority of digital connectivity across the State will be delivered through commercial investment by the telecommunications industry. This will be complemented by the roll-out of fibre, across mainly rural areas, under the State-subsidised National Broadband Plan.

The NBP contract, signed on 19 November 2019, provides for a future proofed high-speed broadband network to be deployed by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to people living and working in the intervention area (IA). It is expected that some 600,000 premises will be passed including new builds.

The NBP network will offer premises in the Intervention Area a high-speed fibre broadband service with a minimum download speed of 500Mbps from the outset. The network is future proofed to deliver up to 10Gbps speeds.

This Programme is the largest infrastructural project in rural Ireland since rural electrification, spanning 96% of Ireland's land mass. It is supplying fast, reliable broadband by laying 140,000 kilometres of fibre cable, utilising over 1.5 million poles and over 16,500 kilometres of underground duct networks.

National Broadband Ireland (NBI) Network Build to date (data correct to 25 October 2024):

• Over 529,200 premises across all counties have designs complete.
• Over 304,600 premises passed across all counties.
• Over 102,600 premises connected.
• Over 328,300 premises can order or pre-order a service across all counties.
• Over 348,300 premises undergoing main build works.
• 955 Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are installed.
• 72 Retail Service Providers are contracted to NBI.
• Retail Service Providers are actively selling on the NBI network with over 328,300 premises available to order and pre-order across 26 counties.
• NBI remains confident that it can complete the network build within the contracted period and on or below budget. NBI recently exceeded its target of 300K premises passed by the end of 2024. 54% of premises in the Intervention Area are now passed by the NBP network.

Strategic Connection Points:

Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) are a key element of the NBP providing high speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll out of the fibre to the home network. The high-speed broadband service is switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development for publicly accessible sites and the Department of Education for connection points located in schools.

All 955 Strategic Connection Points (SCPs) sites have been installed before the end of 2023.

283 are publicly accessible Broadband Connection Point (BCP) sites now connected with high-speed broadband. These BCP's are publicly accessible sites which have been installed and a wireless high-speed broadband service has been switched on in these locations through service provider contracts managed by the Department of Rural and Community Development.

All 672 National Schools within the IA are installed and ready for connection.