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<p>We understand the importance for broadband access in places of worship to help
improve connectivity for local communities, as well as practical benefits for such
premises, including streaming services, security, and accepting contactless donations
or administration.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government has been in discussion
with representatives from the Church of England, in particular, regarding the issue
of broadband access where places of worship do not have postcodes, or are otherwise
missing from telecom provider databases. In some cases this leads to issues in identifying
and providing service to such locations.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Over 31,000
premises are listed in relevant databases accessible to the Government as being used
as places of worship. Of these, approximately 86% of premises used for religious purposes
in Great Britain can access Superfast broadband speeds or better on fixed networks,
compared to the UK average of 95%. Approximately 4% of premises used for religious
purposes in Great Britain cannot access ‘decent broadband’ speeds of 10 Megabit/s
on Fixed networks, compared to the UK average of 2%, largely due to their rurality.
However, 4G data services are also widely available, and this reduces the number of
such listed places of worship with no potential service to less than 0.2% of the total.</p><p><strong>
</strong></p><p>We are working with relevant stakeholders, including telecom operators
and Ofcom, to ascertain the extent of this problem, and how many religious premises
are still facing barriers. Part of this is about ensuring data used by operators is
up to date and consistent with the data available to the Government. But it is also
about identifying appropriate solutions, including ensuring all broadband technology
solutions that are available to places of worship are considered.</p><p> </p>
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