GBS

The Department issued a Programme for Government update about a month ago. Here’s the relevant bit,

Tackle broadband gigabit blackspots that are not included in the National Broadband Plan
Intervention Area currently and which will unlikely be served by commercial operators

Information gathering and detailed analysis is ongoing with Operators to understand the full
scale of the issue. Once the analysis is completed, DCCS will determine potential avenues
to address and determine the optimal policy solution, including from a cost and legal
perspective, to addressing such potential broadband gigabit blackspots. It is also important
to note that a number of commercial operators are planning to continue rolling out fibre
networks in 2026 and this is being monitored by DCCS, so the scale of any potential GBS
cannot be fully quantified until those programmes are complete.

So,

• there is a potential “GBS” (Gigabit Blackspot/Broadband Scheme ?)
• the scale, mapping, method, legality, cost, duration, and starting date are all unknown
• the situation is being monitored.

Historical Note

The previous “GBS” was the ‘Group and County Broadband Scheme’ which aimed to bring fixed wireless access to towns of over 1500 population. It was a bottom-up voucher scheme which avoided the State-Aid rules. It was abandoned in 2006 having spent 3.5M of the 4M budget.