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<p>The Government’s policy is to ensure world-class broadband connectivity across
the UK, including in rural areas, and includes the following steps which have been
designed to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.</p><p> </p><p>£1.7
billion of public money is being invested to support vital improvements in superfast
broadband coverage across the UK, including in rural areas. In December 2017, we met
our target to extend superfast coverage to 95% of UK premises, and we expect to reach
at least 97%. .</p><p> </p><p>We have also put in place legislation to create a new
Universal Service Obligation giving every household and business the right to request
a broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps by 2020, to ensure no-one is left behind.
In addition, the Better Broadband Scheme provides additional voucher funding to UK
premises that do not have access to an affordable broadband service delivering at
least 2Mbps. This will provide a safety net until the USO is in place by 2020</p><p>
</p><p>We want to provide world class digital connectivity that is gigabit-capable,
reliable, long-lasting and widely available across the UK. We have set ambitious targets
- for 15 million premises to be connected to full fibre by 2025, with nationwide coverage
by 2033. In the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, we set out our long term national
strategy to meet these targets, and to ensure that rural and remote areas are not
left behind. Critical to delivering this ambition, is the “outside-in” approach set
out in the review, which seeks to ensure that the harder to reach, mostly rural areas
which are not viable for commercial investment - are addressed at the same pace as
the rest of the country.</p><p> </p><p>The £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC)
programme announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018 marks the first step in this
“outside-in” process and will prioritise the delivery full fibre to premises in rural
and remote areas. The RGC builds on the Local Full Fibre Networks programme which
includes a £190 million Challenge Fund designed to stimulate commercial investment
in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the UK. In addition,
Defra has also allocated £30 million of grant funding from the Rural Development Programme
for England, targeted at helping to connect businesses with superfast broadband in
hard to reach rural areas.</p><p> </p><p>On Mobile services, the Government is committed
to ensuring that the UK has good quality, consistent mobile connectivity where people
live, work and travel. Mobile coverage has significantly improved over recent years,
with 87% of UK landmass having a 4G signal from at least one operator (compared to
78% in 2017). My Department is also working across Government, and with others, to
ensure delivery of our manifesto commitment to secure 95% geographic coverage of the
UK by 2022. Alongside this work, we welcome the opportunity that Ofcom's proposed
700MHz auction presents to improve mobile coverage across the UK, including in rural
areas.</p>
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