The construction by the State of its own rural telecoms network, at a likely cost of hundreds of millions of euro, is one option being considered by the Government as part of its delivery of the National Broadband Plan.
A draft plan for intervention by the State, which has promised to bring high-speed broadband to every home and business in the country by the 2020, lays out five options for ownership.
These range from one where a company is given a State subsidy but retains ownership of the network, to a 50/50 joint venture, through to one where the public sector builds, finances, owns and operates the network itself.
The draft strategy published by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, says that while the option where the State would subsidise but not own the network looks the most affordable and practical option for the State, it is too early to say which is optimal.
Although former communications minister Pat Rabbitte last year put the cost of delivering the plan at up to €500m, the department will not divulge what its current estimate is.
However, officials say that estimate was based on a model where the State would subsidise the capital costs of the network, but the company would own the assets.
But if the model adopted was one where the Government built, owned and operated the network, it would cost considerably more, departmental sources say.
Around 750,000 premises or 38% of the population are in areas where there is no high-speed broadband, and where private operators say they do not intend offering it because it is not commercially viable to do so.
Therefore the Government has said it will step in to provide a high-speed broadband service to every premises in the country by the end of 2020.
Its draft intervention plan sets a number of objectives, including that the service must be high-quality, reliable, affordable and available from a range of service providers, who in turn will have to provide a range of product options.
