A major price difference between two broadband plans in Ireland and Northern Ireland has raised major concerns.

Ireland's National Broadband Plan will cost about €5,000 per household, whereas NI's rural scheme Project Stratum will cost about €1,900 per household.

It has since emerged that the preferred bidder for the National Broadband Plan, Granahan McCourt is now bidding for Project Stratum.

Minister for Communications, Richard Bruton has been urged to explain why the contractor can deliver a similar scheme in Northern Ireland for less than half the price.

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Fianna Fáil representative Jack Chambers said: "The provision of high-speed broadband is vital to rural Ireland, but we cannot write a blank cheque for the companies who are going to roll out the service.

"We now have a situation where the same company is going to roll out the same service, in the same country, but is doing so for three times the price. While I accept that the plan to provide broadband to Northern Ireland is not the same as the National Broadband Plan here, the price difference raises further questions about the value for money which have been achieved through the tender process.

"We already know that other companies have said that they can deliver the same service as that provided commercially for half the price of the National Broadband Plan. We are now finding that Granahan McCourt itself is willing to provide broadband in Ireland for less than half of the price. The Minister for Communications needs to urgently clarify why it costs over twice as much to deliver broadband to Donegal as it does in Derry," concluded Deputy Chambers.

(CM/MH)