NBS Frequently Asked Questions

• How much is the scheme costing?
• Who will receive broadband under the National Broadband Scheme?
• What areas are covered by the National Broadband Scheme?
• Is there a regional and county breakdown of areas to be covered available?
• What product will be offered under the NBS?
• What speeds can subscribers expect at launch?
• Will there be download and upload limits and what will they be?
• Are there plans to upgrade speeds?
• Under what circumstances will satellite be used as a means of provision of broadband?
• How much will the NBS product cost?
• What customer care facilities will be in place?
• Will the NBS address the issue of quality?
• How soon will rollout begin?
• When can particular locations expect to receive broadband under the scheme?
• What will happen if the deadlines are not met by the service provider?
  

How much will the NBS cost?

On 23rd December 2008 the Department entered into a contract with "3", a Hutchison Whampoa company, for the delivery of the National Broadband Scheme.

The total value of the investment required to implement the National Broadband Scheme is c. €223m, of which the Government is contributing €79.8m.

The project is eligible for EU co-funding under the ERDF 2007-2013.

Who will receive broadband under the National Broadband Scheme?

Any fixed residential or business customer located within the NBS coverage area can apply for broadband services under the scheme. There are approximately 223,000 buildings located within the NBS coverage area.

What areas are covered by the National Broadband Scheme?

1028 Electoral Divisions throughout the country will be provided with broadband coverage under the NBS.

Individual county maps, together with the list of Electoral Divisions to be covered under the scheme within each county, are available on the Department’s website at www.dcenr.gov.ie/NBS.

Maps, including an online address checking facility, are available at on 3's website at www.three.ie/nbs.

Is there a regional and county breakdown of areas to be covered available?

There are a total of 1028 Electoral Divisions (EDs), of which 543 EDs (or 53%) are located in the Border, Midland and Western (BMW) region and 485 (or 47%) are located in the Southern and Eastern (S&E) region.

The breakdown of EDs by county is provided in the table below.

3, the NBS Service Provider, will extend its network to provide mobile wireless broadband services into the NBS area. The mobile broadband service (I-HSPA) will have a minimum download speed of 1.2Mbps and a minimum upload speed of 200kpbs with a contention ratio of 36:1.

In recognition of the fact that some areas will be very costly and difficult to reach, in a very limited number of cases, 3 will make available a satellite product of 1Mbps download and 128kbps upload. This will cover up to a maximum of 8% of fixed residences and businesses in the NBS coverage area.

The products will be upgraded to higher specifications during the contract term without any increase in the monthly recurring charge.

Maximum contention ratio of 36:1

Round-trip latency: 120ms

Maximum contention ratio of 48:1

Round-trip latency: 800ms

Will there be download and upload limits and what will they be?

An uncharged monthly data cap of 15GB (12GB download and 3GB upload) will apply for the wireless product while 11GB (10GB download and 1GB upload) will be available for satellite users.

Are there plans to upgrade speeds?
Two upgrades of the wireless product are planned by 3 in the coming years without any increase in the monthly recurring charge:

Maximum contention ratio of 22:1

Round-trip latency: 100ms

Maximum contention ratio of 18:1

Round-trip latency: 100ms

Under what circumstances will satellite be used as a means of provision of broadband?

In recognition of the fact that some areas will be very costly and technologically challenging to reach using standard infrastructure, a maximum of 8% of fixed residences and businesses in the NBS area may be provided a service using satellite.

It is a matter for the service provider to decide where a satellite solution will be deployed within the specified limits.

The cost will be €19.99 per month (including VAT), with a connection fee of €49 (including VAT) which covers the cost of the necessary equipment.

What customer care facilities will be in place?

A dedicated customer care team will handle all NBS queries (on 1913) and will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A team of field engineers, which will address any installation or maintenance issues, will also be established.

Will the NBS address the issue of quality?

Under the NBS contract 3 is required to deliver guaranteed service standards with respect to retail product speeds, contention ratio, customer interface , wholesale service, reporting and marketing.

3’s NBS solution has been dimensioned under full load to deliver 1.2Mbps at the cell edge. The NBS network will comprise of a high number of sites  (over 400) to ensure that a deep coverage is provided using the latest Internet High Speed Packet Access (I-HSPA) technology. This solution reduces the number of customers receiving service from a single site and the use of the latest technology means that the product received by NBS customers will meet the NBS quality requirements. Where required, 3 will deploy devices to boost signal strength at customer premises to ensure guaranteed service levels.

The Department along with the assitance of independent technical consultants, Analysys Mason Ltd, will actively monitor performance of the infrastructure, service availability, service delivery and customer experience as well as overall compliance with contractual obligations by 3 on a monthly basis throughout the contract term.

Upgrades of the network and its  capacity are automatically  triggered at contractually agreed levels of traffic to ensure that the quality of the broadband service is maintained and enhanced over the period of the contract.

Additionally, the NBS contract imposes a service credit regime imposes a service credit regime on 3 with significant consequences in the event of proven failure to meet the contractually binding service or customer service obligations.

3’s mobile wireless broadband solution is future-proofed and there is a strong evolution path for I-HSPA technology to Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), which is expected to enhance significantly the quality and speed of mobile broadband.

How soon will rollout begin?

A challenging, yet achievable, 21 month rollout schedule must be met. The first rollout milestone will see at least 15% of the NBS areas being covered by end June 2009 with monthly coverage increments thereafter. By end 2009, 48% of the NBS area will be covered. 100% broadband availability throughout the NBS coverage area will be provided by end September 2010.

The deployment of the first services under the NBS commenced in Spring 2009.
Details are available on 3's website at http://www.three.ie/nbs/live-areas.htm.

When can particular locations expect to receive broadband under the scheme?

It is not possible to accurately predict the progression of site rollout in advance of necessary permissions being obtained. 3, the NBS Service Provider, will,  in advance of NBS being launched in any given area, commence a marketing campaign informing the local community as to when the NBS service will be available.

Almost half of the entire NBS coverage area will be enabled by end 2009 while all residential and business premises within the NBS coverage area will have broadband connectivity by end September 2010. 

What will happen if the deadlines are not met by the service provider?

3 has entered a 68 month contract with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with phased payments made only on reaching defined milestones. The Department has in place a rigorous monitoring mechanism and  actively monitors 3’s performance and compliance with contractual obligations under the NBS contract. The Department has recourse to a number of controls to ensure compliance with  contractual commitments.