The Universal Service Conditions set out by Ofcom require the two Universal Service Providers (BT and KCOM in the Hull area) to take \u2018reasonable steps... to raise awareness of the potential availability of Broadband Services under these Conditions among members of the public\u2019. As of September 2020, BT had directly contacted 47,000 premises that are eligible for the Universal Service Obligation.<\/p>
In addition, Ofcom, who are responsible for implementing the Universal Service Obligation, are taking their own steps to publicise it through both their website and a localised, geo-targeted social media campaign.<\/p>
The Universal Service Obligation is technology neutral. It provides a legal right to request a decent broadband connection delivering a minimum 10Mbps download speed. It does not limit the technologies that can be used by the Universal Service Provider to deliver the minimum specification or provide a legal right for consumers to request an upgrade to a fibre connection. That said, the Universal Service Providers have provided fibre connections under the Universal Service Obligation where this is the most efficient technology solution.<\/p>
In addition, the government has a number of other programmes to help people upgrade to gigabit capable connections, including the rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme for example. This is in addition to our commitment to invest £5bn from April 2021 to bring gigabit coverage to the hardest to reach areas as part of the UK Gigabit Programme.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4361", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Matt Warman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Boston and Skegness"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Matt Warman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-12-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-12-08T16:16:02.733Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-12-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Broadband"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to publicise the (a) legal right for households to have an internet connection of at least 10Mbps and (b) entitlement to an upgrade to a fibre connection if other interventions fail; and if he will make a statement.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/242", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Christopher Chope"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Christchurch"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Sir Christopher Chope"} ], "uin" : "124651"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/829897", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/829897/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
A report from NatCen, published by the Gambling Commission in August 2017, estimated the number of adult problem gamblers in Great Britain as approximately 430,000, 0.8% of the population. The surveys that underpinned this also identified people who are at risk of problems related to their gambling behaviour but who are not classified as problem gamblers. The number of moderate-risk gamblers was 555,000, and the number of low-risk gamblers was approximately 1,430,000. Both headline rates of problem gambling and at-risk rates have been relatively stable for many years.<\/p>
<\/p>
In October the government published a consultation on Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility across the industry. This closed on 23 January, and we will consider all responses and publish our response and next steps in due course.<\/p>
<\/strong><\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3950", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Tracey Crouch"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Chatham and Aylesford"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Tracey Crouch"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-01-31", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-01-31T10:15:54.897Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "10"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Digital, Culture, Media and Sport"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-01-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Gambling"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking in response to the finding by the Gambling Commission that 2 million people in the UK are addicted to gambling.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1524", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Meg Hillier"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hackney South and Shoreditch"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Meg Hillier"} ], "uin" : "124651"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }