| answer text |
<p>The government’s ambition is to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as
soon as possible. We are working with industry to target a minimum of 85% gigabit-capable
coverage by 2025 but will seek to accelerate rollout further to get as close to 100%
as possible. We expect that approximately 80% of UK premises will be delivered by
industry commercially without the need for public subsidy. It will be more difficult
to deliver gigabit connectivity to the hardest to reach 20% of the premises, which
is why the government has announced £5 billion to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity
to these premises as fast as possible.</p><p>For their proposed regulation for the
2021-26 period, Ofcom have defined two geographic markets: Area 2, accounting for
roughly 70% of premises, where there is already some material commercial deployment
by rival networks to BT Openreach or where this could be economic based on information
provided to Ofcom by operators; and Area 3 - where Ofcom believes there is unlikely
to be material commercial deployment by rivals to BT Openreach.</p><p>Ofcom has not
yet officially confirmed the premises in these market areas as they are still under
review following a consultation that closed on 8 December 2020. Ofcom expects to publish
their final decisions by 31 March 2021.</p><p>DCMS’ £5 billion UK Gigabit programme
will prioritise areas that are in the hardest to reach 20% premises in the country
and, within that, the c.3% of premises that do not have access to superfast broadband.
For this reason, our programme is unlikely to initially prioritise areas that are
designated in Ofcom’s Area 2 as this will avoid the risk of crowding out commercial
investment, and provide value for public money whilst delivering to those areas most
in need.</p><p>However, DCMS will continue to conduct market surveys as part of the
UK Gigabit programme, through which telecom operators provide detailed information
on their commercial build plans. If it becomes clear that premises in Ofcom’s Area
2 are unlikely to benefit from a commercially delivered gigabit programme within a
reasonable timeframe, then DCMS will take this into account when considering eligibility
for government schemes.</p><p> </p>
|
|
