Fianna Fáil has claimed that the preferred bidder for the National Broadband Plan is preparing to roll out a similar service in the North for less than half the price.

The party’s communications spokesperson Jack Chambers said a plan to roll out rural broadband in the North is expected to cost around €1,900 per home.

Meanwhile the National Broadband Plan (NBP) will cost about €5,000 per home on this side of the border.

He said Granahan McCourt, the preferred bidder for the NBP, is also bidding for the Northern Irish Project Stratum.

“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,” he said.

“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.

File photo of Fianna Fáil communications spokesperson Jack Chambers, 21-02-2018. Image: Farrell/RollingNews

He said the NBP is vital to rural Ireland but warned that “we cannot write a blank cheque for the companies who are going to roll out the service.”

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Ireland’s much-delayed rural broadband scheme is now expected to cost close to €3bn – six times more than originally estimated.

The Government is expected to sign the final contract with Granahan McCourt in the coming weeks.