Ireland’s Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) designed the NBS to address the country’s digital divide. In 2007, an estimated 10 per cent of the population resided in areas where it was not economically feasible for providers to offer services. The NBS was launched in 2008 to improve the delivery of basic, affordable broadband in a target areas categorized as the \"NBS Coverage Area.\" Any fixed residential or business customer located within the designated NBS Coverage Area – a total of about 234 000 customers – was eligible to apply for broadband services under the programme34. The project cost EUR 223 million,35 of which the Irish Government made a contribution of EUR 80 million. A competitive tendering process resulted in the award of a contract to Three (a Hutchison Whampoa company), to design, build and operate the NBS. Three was required to provide basic broadband services to residents and businesses, both retail and wholesale, within the NBS Coverage Area for five years. The NBS scheme ended in August 2014 following a 68-month operational period, which was limited in duration to ensure compliance with EU state-aid rules.In order to facilitate competition, Three was also required to provide wholesale access to all other authorized operators who wished to serve customers in the NBS Coverage Area. Following the end of the project, Three was no longer required to make the NBS retail and wholesale services available under the NBS contract, although broadband coverage will continue to be available on a commercial basis.In 2010, the government announced that it had met the EU target for broadband availability two years ahead of schedule, making broadband available to 235 000 premises in 1 028 areas (99 per cent of premises) across the country. A separate Rural Broadband Scheme was launched to target the remaining 1 per cent of premises.A study of the NBS showed that the spin-off benefits of widespread broadband access could be significant in regional areas. The study estimated that the NBS would yield EUR 25 million for the local economy in Donegal, EUR 53 million in Galway, EUR 40 million in Kerry and EUR 26.9 million in Mayo36.The NBS seems to have been a success in Ireland. In 2007, only 31.2 per cent of households had a broadband connection – a percentage below the EU average of 42.4 per cent. In 2014, 79.5 per cent of households in Ireland had a broadband connection – surpassing the EU average of 78.3 per cent that year. It is clear that the NBS allowed Ireland to boost the percentage of mobile broadband connections above that of the European Union average37.1.3.3 Public outsourcing This approach allows a government to award a contract to a private firm to construct and Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016 11 Chapter 1 Box 1.2: Key lessons from the National Broadband Scheme (NBS) • Three was required to offer a wholesale service to other operators on a non-discriminatory basis, at an appropriate tariff, to ensure compliance with EU state-aid rules.• Once-off state funding is useful to get infrastructure and services into areas that are not economically feasible.• Time-limited interventions can ensure that the retail market has an opportunity to participate in competitive service provision once the intervention period has expired.• More than one intervention scheme may be required to achieve 100 per cent broadband coverage aspirations.• The definition of a coverage area by the number of premises and by region can assist operators in understanding the scope and scale of the intervention.