The Government has been told that National Broadband Ireland should seek to ramp up its capacity to meet the demand for new connections in anticipation of continued strong take-up.
The recommendation is contained in an independent evaluation report of the National Broadband Plan which was prepared by EY Ireland.
The study was based on extensive research including interviews and focus groups, household surveys, and business surveys.
The report found that there is a shortfall in the availability of comprehensive data regarding the national coverage of high-speed broadband.
“This gap underscores a need for enhanced strategic planning and systematic documentation to track progress,” the review found.
The report recommended that the Government and State agencies should seek to promote the benefits of high-speed broadband to the tourism sector, particularly to micro businesses and SMEs.
It also found that National Broadband Ireland should continue efforts to mitigate and manage costs.
According to the review of the National Broadband Plan, there has been a positive impact on enterprise, increasing productivity, improving communication and reducing costs.
The study found that the impact on the tourism and hospitality sector has resulted in increased business activity and that there has been a positive impact on the delivery of key Government policies.
The report comes five years after the Government signed the contract for National Broadband Ireland to deliver the National Broadband Plan following State aid approval from the European Commission.
The Department of Communications published the report, which also highlighted the importance of flexibility in European state aid rules.
The review found that National Broadband Ireland has made “observable progress” in terms of coverage and is on course to achieve total coverage by the end of the deployment period in October 2027.
“Five years after the National Broadband Plan contract was signed, it is fascinating to see how this project is turning out,” said Minister of State at the Department of Communications Ossian Smyth.
“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,” Mr Smyth said.
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 counties in the Republic with over 328,300 premises now able to connect to the network and over 102,600 premises already connected.