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1343809

registered interest
date	05/07/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to expand the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme to include urban areas with poor broadband connectivity.
tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
uin	27279
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/07/2021 answer text <p>The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme closed on 31st March 2021. The programme sought to test ways in which the government could intervene to provide gigabit broadband coverage in rural areas which were unlikely to be covered through commercial roll-out. The experience of the RGC programme has helped shape Project Gigabit, which is aimed at all premises which are not likely to be covered commercially.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The government is working closely with telecoms providers through detailed market reviews to ensure that only premises which are not likely to get commercial gigabit coverage are in scope for Project Gigabit. This will include premises in urban areas if there are no commercial coverage plans in place.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Today, over two in five premises can access gigabit-capable networks, up from just one in ten in November 2019. By the end of the year, 60% will have access, and by 2025 the government is targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage, working with industry to reach as close to 100% as possible.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 08/07/2021 10:57:25 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1284706

registered interest
date	08/02/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to ensure that the rollout of high speed broadband includes areas of low speed broadband in urban areas as well as non-urban areas.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	150907
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/02/2021 answer text <p>The government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible and more than one in three UK premises already have it. We are targeting a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable coverage by 2025 but will seek to accelerate rollout further to get as close to 100% as possible.</p><p>Our analysis suggests that the overwhelming majority of urban premises are within the most commercial 80% of the UK. In these areas, we expect that the private sector will deploy gigabit capable connectivity commercially, and address any remaining premises that have slow speeds. To support industry’s efforts, we continue to work quickly to incentivise investment and remove barriers to rollout, for example through the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill, which will make it easier for the industry to connect blocks of flats to high speed fixed and mobile technology.</p><p>In addition, we are proposing to invest £5 billion through our UK Gigabit programme to deliver gigabit connectivity to less commercial premises, including those with lower speeds currently. This programme will use a variety of interventions, including procurements, connecting public sector hubs and gigabit vouchers.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 11/02/2021 16:47:47 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1236582

registered interest
date	22/09/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support his Department provides to broadband customers in urban areas who are unable to access fibre-to-the-cabinet, where Openreach has no plans to make such services available and whose premises are above the connectivity thresholds in the universal service obligation.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
uin	93585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/09/2020 answer text <p>The government is committed to delivering nationwide coverage of gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible by encouraging network build by Openreach and a range of alternative competing networks. Gigabit broadband will provide customers in urban areas with access to faster and more resilient broadband.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>To support this objective, we are taking action to remove barriers to the commercial roll out of faster broadband. For example, we have introduced legislation into Parliament to make it easier to connect tenanted properties where there are unresponsive landlords. In addition, we have plans to mandate connectivity in new builds, and are working with the Department for Transport to reform the streetworks regime to make it quicker and easier to deploy new networks.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 25/09/2020 12:52:52 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1236583

registered interest
date	22/09/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of urban properties are unable to access fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband and above the connectivity thresholds for the universal service obligation.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
uin	93586
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/09/2020 answer text <p>Ofcom’s Connected Nations Report 2019 found that 2% of all urban properties (approximately 322,000 premises) in the UK could receive a fixed broadband connection that was above the threshold for the Universal Service Obligation but below 30Mbps, the typical minimum speed delivered by Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) technology. These statistics consider only fixed network provision.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Department does not hold the information about how many or what proportion of properties are specifically connected using Fibre to the Cabinet technology. Many urban properties can also access 30 Mbps speeds or more using cable networks, as well as 4G and 5G mobile services capable of delivering broadband speeds above the Universal Service Obligation thresholds.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 25/09/2020 12:53:53 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1236584

registered interest
date	22/09/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of urban properties are unable to access fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband and qualify for assistance under the universal service obligation.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle upon Tyne North
tabling member printed	Catherine McKinnell
uin	93587
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/09/2020 answer text <p>The Ofcom Connected Nations Report 2019 found that 1% of all urban properties (approximately 161,000 premises) in the UK were unable to access a fixed broadband connection that met the minimum speed thresholds under the Universal Service Obligation (USO). However, the vast majority of these premises are likely to be able to access a 4G or 5G mobile service that provides USO level download and upload speeds or higher and will not therefore be eligible for an upgraded connection under the Universal Service Obligation.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 25/09/2020 12:55:51 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4125 label Biography information for Catherine McKinnell

1196941

registered interest
date	18/05/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to broadband consumers in urban areas who are not able to access superfast broadband from Openreach.
tabling member printed	Lord Freyberg
uin	HL4651
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2020 answer text <p>According to Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations report, more than 98% of premises in urban areas can access superfast broadband. The Government’s Superfast programme has been instrumental in reaching this level of coverage, with £1.8 billion invested to date. The programme is still ongoing, and future delivery will further increase superfast coverage.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For consumers unable to access download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, including those on exchange only lines, the Government has legislated to introduce the broadband Universal Service Obligation, which provides households with a legal right to request this minimum speed up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition, the Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible and has already invested in stimulating demand for gigabit broadband, including in urban areas. The £200 million Local Full Fibre Networks programme has funded projects in urban areas such as Belfast and London, for example.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has also announced that it will invest a further £5 billion to provide gigabit-capable networks in the hardest to parts of the UK. This funding will focus on connecting more rural and remote areas but, alongside this, the Government is also taking action to reduce the barriers to deployment, and make it cheaper and easier for BT Openreach and other operators to roll out broadband commercially, including in urban and suburban areas. For example, we are taking the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill through Parliament, which will make it easier for network builders to access blocks of flats where there is an absent or unresponsive landlord.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Finally, mobile network operators already provide 4G mobile broadband services which provide a viable alternative to superfast coverage in urban areas. In addition, according to Ofcom’s December 2019 Connected Nations report, more than 40 towns and cities already have access to even faster 5G mobile services, and the rollout has developed further since then.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this, the Government has allocated £200 million from 2017 to March 2022 to support the further development of 5G through its 5G Testbeds &amp; Trials Programme, including up to £20 million in the West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Programme (over three years, to March 2022).</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran grouped question UIN HL4652 HL4654 question first answered 01/06/2020 10:54:25 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	2593 label Biography information for Lord Freyberg

1196942

registered interest
date	18/05/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide to broadband consumers who are unable to access (1) fibre-to-the-premises, or (2) fibre-to-the-cabinet, broadband from Openreach in urban areas where Openreach has no plans to make such services available.
tabling member printed	Lord Freyberg
uin	HL4652
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/06/2020 answer text <p>According to Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations report, more than 98% of premises in urban areas can access superfast broadband. The Government’s Superfast programme has been instrumental in reaching this level of coverage, with £1.8 billion invested to date. The programme is still ongoing, and future delivery will further increase superfast coverage.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For consumers unable to access download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, including those on exchange only lines, the Government has legislated to introduce the broadband Universal Service Obligation, which provides households with a legal right to request this minimum speed up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition, the Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible and has already invested in stimulating demand for gigabit broadband, including in urban areas. The £200 million Local Full Fibre Networks programme has funded projects in urban areas such as Belfast and London, for example.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has also announced that it will invest a further £5 billion to provide gigabit-capable networks in the hardest to parts of the UK. This funding will focus on connecting more rural and remote areas but, alongside this, the Government is also taking action to reduce the barriers to deployment, and make it cheaper and easier for BT Openreach and other operators to roll out broadband commercially, including in urban and suburban areas. For example, we are taking the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill through Parliament, which will make it easier for network builders to access blocks of flats where there is an absent or unresponsive landlord.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Finally, mobile network operators already provide 4G mobile broadband services which provide a viable alternative to superfast coverage in urban areas. In addition, according to Ofcom’s December 2019 Connected Nations report, more than 40 towns and cities already have access to even faster 5G mobile services, and the rollout has developed further since then.</p><p> </p><p>As part of this, the Government has allocated £200 million from 2017 to March 2022 to support the further development of 5G through its 5G Testbeds &amp; Trials Programme, including up to £20 million in the West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Programme (over three years, to March 2022).</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran grouped question UIN HL4651 HL4654 question first answered 01/06/2020 10:54:25 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	2593 label Biography information for Lord Freyberg

1196943

registered interest
date	18/05/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to mandate the rollout by Openreach of fibre-to-the-premises broadband to urban areas; and what is their timeframe for this rollout.
tabling member printed	Lord Freyberg
uin	HL4653
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/06/2020 answer text <p>The Government's ambition is for nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Gigabit capable broadband can be delivered by fibre to the premise broadband, as well as other technologies, such as upgraded cable networks.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We believe the best way to deliver nationwide coverage is to promote network competition and commercial investment by BT Openreach and other operators wherever possible, and to intervene with public subsidy where necessary. To deliver this, we are taking action to reduce barriers to commercial deployment including, for example, through the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold) Property Bill, which will make it easier to connect tenanted properties with an unresponsive landlord. At Budget, we also committed to invest £5 billion to deliver gigabit capable deployment to the hardest to reach areas of the country.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government does not have formal powers to mandate the rollout of gigabit capable broadband by a private sector company like BT. However, BT recently announced their ambition to deliver gigabit connectivity to 20 million premises during the 2020s.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 02/06/2020 11:11:47 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	2593 label Biography information for Lord Freyberg

1122173

registered interest
date	18/04/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to support the delivery of a full-fibre roll-out in towns and cities throughout the UK.
tabling member constituency	Huddersfield
tabling member printed	Mr Barry Sheerman
uin	245631
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2019 answer text <p>The Government has ambitious targets for world class digital infrastructure with 15 million premises connected to full fibre by 2025, and national coverage by 2033. The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, published in July 2018, set out the overall strategy for how to achieve these targets.</p><p> </p><p>The Review concluded the most effective way to deliver these ambitions is to promote competition between fibre networks where possible intervene where necessary. The Review’s analysis suggests that commercial investment will be viable for up to 90% of premises in the UK. To ensure deployment is as cheap and easy as possible, the Barrier Busting Task Force has been established to remove issues like wayleaves, planning and streetworks.</p><p> </p><p>The Local Full Fibre Networks programme, launched in November 2017, will have invested almost £300 million to stimulate commercial full fibre investment across the UK by the end of the programme in 2021, while</p><p>Government is also supporting competitive commercial investment through the £400 million Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, which is expected to unlock over £1 billion investment in full fibre.</p><p> </p><p>Industry have continued to respond with commitments to full fibre rollout with CityFibre, Hyperoptic and Openreach all making significant announcements to deploy full fibre in a number of towns and cities across the UK as well as new entrants also entering the market. We are now seeing full fibre coverage increase at pace with 7% of premises in the UK now able to connect to full fibre, up from 4% around 12 months ago.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Stourbridge answering member printed Margot James question first answered 30/04/2019 17:33:34 answering member 4115 label Biography information for Margot James
tabling member	411 label Biography information for Mr Barry Sheerman

944920

registered interest
date	19/07/2018
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Broadband: Urban Areas
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to address the poor broadband speeds in some areas of the UK's conurbations, cities, and towns.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL9703
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2018 answer text <p>In those areas where decent broadband is not available, we are introducing a broadband Universal Service Obligation so that by 2020 everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to request high speed broadband of at least 10 Megabits per second. We will keep the speed and quality parameters under review to make sure that it keeps pace with consumers' evolving needs.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government’s ambition is for full fibre to 15 million premises by 2025 and nationwide coverage by 2033. On 23 July, the Government published its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, setting out approach to achieving our targets by promoting competition and commercial investment.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government is also investing in full fibre connectivity through our £280 million Local Full Fibre Networks programme. In March 2018, funding was allocated to 13 successful bidders, with projects in several UK cities, including London, Manchester, Cambridge, Cardiff, and Belfast.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Ashton of Hyde question first answered 27/07/2018 13:29:45 answering member 4247 label Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark