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1166697

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 2799 on broadband, to what (a) proportion and (b) number of premises does the Government aim to deliver full fibre to the premise by 2025.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	6289
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>As set out in the answer of 24 October 2019, the Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible through the deployment of full fibre broadband, upgraded gigabit networks and, potentially, other technologies such as 5G fixed wireless access. The Government has not set targets for the proportion, or number of premises to be covered by these different technologies, as we are focussed on the outcome of better broadband connectivity for consumers, and we wish to encourage innovation and increased network competition in this market.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 6290 question first answered 31/10/2019 12:16:04 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1166699

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 2799, what proportion of gigabit broadband connections will be delivered by (a) fibre to the premise and (b) other technologies.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	6290
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>As set out in the answer of 24 October 2019, the Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible through the deployment of full fibre broadband, upgraded gigabit networks and, potentially, other technologies such as 5G fixed wireless access. The Government has not set targets for the proportion, or number of premises to be covered by these different technologies, as we are focussed on the outcome of better broadband connectivity for consumers, and we wish to encourage innovation and increased network competition in this market.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 6289 question first answered 31/10/2019 12:16:04 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1156090

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
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
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 provisions are in place to reimburse communities which have had to self-fund superfast broadband schemes as a consequence of having been promised but not received connection by Openreach.
tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
uin	4990
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government does not have any powers to impose penalties on network providers like Openreach, should they decide against connecting premises to superfast broadband for commercial reasons.</p><p> </p><p>If, however, a provider like Openreach has been contracted to rollout superfast broadband under the Government’s Superfast Broadband programme, there will be a contract between that provider and the Local Authority responsible for running the programme in the local area. Normally, a decision not to connect a property, which was originally in scope for the programme, is one that would be taken jointly by the Local Authority in consultation with the provider. If, however, a provider arbitrarily decided not to connect a property, this would represent a breach of that contract and the Local Authority would be able to take action under that contract. In the most serious circumstances, this could result in termination.</p><p> </p><p>The Government does not provide retrospective funding for communities that are self-funding superfast broadband in their local area. However, many communities are utilising the government’s £67 million Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to contribute towards the cost of their project.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government continues to take action to improve the connectivity of those without access to superfast broadband. Our Superfast Broadband programme is continuing to connect premises to superfast broadband, following the target of 95% coverage being hit by the end of 2017, and expects to hit 97% coverage by March 2020. In addition, the Government has introduced the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). This will give everyone in the UK the right to request decent broadband providing download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second from a designated provider up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.</p><p> </p><p>Government is also funding the rollout of next generation gigabit broadband in less commercial areas of the country, including through the £200 million Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme, as well as the Gigabit Voucher Scheme. On 30 September, the Government announced a further £5 billion of new funding to subsidise the rollout of gigabit capable broadband to premises in the least commercial 20% of the country, including those areas that currently do not have access to superfast broadband.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 4991 question first answered 31/10/2019 12:21:51 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1156091

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
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
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 penalties are enforced by Government on Openreach when it fails to adequately connect communities to superfast broadband.
tabling member constituency	Romsey and Southampton North
tabling member printed	Caroline Nokes
uin	4991
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government does not have any powers to impose penalties on network providers like Openreach, should they decide against connecting premises to superfast broadband for commercial reasons.</p><p> </p><p>If, however, a provider like Openreach has been contracted to rollout superfast broadband under the Government’s Superfast Broadband programme, there will be a contract between that provider and the Local Authority responsible for running the programme in the local area. Normally, a decision not to connect a property, which was originally in scope for the programme, is one that would be taken jointly by the Local Authority in consultation with the provider. If, however, a provider arbitrarily decided not to connect a property, this would represent a breach of that contract and the Local Authority would be able to take action under that contract. In the most serious circumstances, this could result in termination.</p><p> </p><p>The Government does not provide retrospective funding for communities that are self-funding superfast broadband in their local area. However, many communities are utilising the government’s £67 million Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to contribute towards the cost of their project.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government continues to take action to improve the connectivity of those without access to superfast broadband. Our Superfast Broadband programme is continuing to connect premises to superfast broadband, following the target of 95% coverage being hit by the end of 2017, and expects to hit 97% coverage by March 2020. In addition, the Government has introduced the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO). This will give everyone in the UK the right to request decent broadband providing download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second from a designated provider up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.</p><p> </p><p>Government is also funding the rollout of next generation gigabit broadband in less commercial areas of the country, including through the £200 million Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme, as well as the Gigabit Voucher Scheme. On 30 September, the Government announced a further £5 billion of new funding to subsidise the rollout of gigabit capable broadband to premises in the least commercial 20% of the country, including those areas that currently do not have access to superfast broadband.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 4990 question first answered 31/10/2019 12:21:51 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4048 label Biography information for Caroline Nokes

1156172

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
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
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 assessment she has made of the potential contribution of (a) FTTP, (b) DOCSIS, (c) xDSL and (d) G.fast technology in supporting (i) smart city applications, (ii) fourth industrial revolution innovations and (iii) 5G backhaul.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	4913
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2019 answer text <p>Copper based ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber lines), FTTC (fibre to the cabinet), and G.fast cannot provide gigabit speeds, although performance between these services varies. ADSL is capable of delivering maximum download speeds of 24Mbps, compared to FTTC (VDSL/virtual digital subscriber line) which can deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps and G.fast which is currently capable of providing speeds of up to 330Mbps. However, with all these services, the speed achievable declines with distance, with the highest speeds only available to premises closest to the cabinet.</p><p> </p><p>FTTP (fibre to the premises or full fibre) and DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) 3.1 are both capable of gigabit download speeds. However, unlike DOCSIS 3.1, FTTP can also offer symmetrical upload speeds, and can therefore deliver gigabit upload as well as download. High upload speeds are especially important to businesses in sectors where large files need to be transferred e.g. media production, as well as for certain domestic uses, such as online gaming.</p><p> </p><p>All gigabit capable networks also offer increased reliability and resilience compared to copper, with FTTP providing the most reliable and resilient service. As well as improved quality of service, full fibre networks requires much lower maintenance compared to copper networks, with five times fewer faults. The reduction in fault rate means FTTP networks are cheaper to run than copper, and the National Infrastructure Assessment estimated that this could save £5bn in operating costs over 30 years.</p><p> </p><p>The department has not made specific assessments of the differences in energy efficiency. However, FTTP has lower energy requirements than copper and cable technologies and requires the use of fewer exchanges, and will therefore likely lead to reduced emissions for similar bandwidths.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government is investing £167m into Made Smarter, the UK’s key industrial digitalisation programme, to put UK at forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.</p><p> </p><p>Fibre is a key requirement for 5G networks, providing high speed and capacity mobile backhaul to match the capacity of 5G mobile networks. It is important that mobile operators and infrastructure providers have access to the key inputs for network densification, including sufficient fibre backhaul capacity.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 4914 question first answered 29/10/2019 17:12:33 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1156173

registered interest
date	24/10/2019
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
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 assessment she has made of the differences in (a) speed, (b) reliability and (c) energy efficiency of (i) FTTP, (ii) FTTC, (iii) DOCSIS, (iv) xDSL and (v) G.fast technology.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	4914
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2019 answer text <p>Copper based ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber lines), FTTC (fibre to the cabinet), and G.fast cannot provide gigabit speeds, although performance between these services varies. ADSL is capable of delivering maximum download speeds of 24Mbps, compared to FTTC (VDSL/virtual digital subscriber line) which can deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps and G.fast which is currently capable of providing speeds of up to 330Mbps. However, with all these services, the speed achievable declines with distance, with the highest speeds only available to premises closest to the cabinet.</p><p> </p><p>FTTP (fibre to the premises or full fibre) and DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) 3.1 are both capable of gigabit download speeds. However, unlike DOCSIS 3.1, FTTP can also offer symmetrical upload speeds, and can therefore deliver gigabit upload as well as download. High upload speeds are especially important to businesses in sectors where large files need to be transferred e.g. media production, as well as for certain domestic uses, such as online gaming.</p><p> </p><p>All gigabit capable networks also offer increased reliability and resilience compared to copper, with FTTP providing the most reliable and resilient service. As well as improved quality of service, full fibre networks requires much lower maintenance compared to copper networks, with five times fewer faults. The reduction in fault rate means FTTP networks are cheaper to run than copper, and the National Infrastructure Assessment estimated that this could save £5bn in operating costs over 30 years.</p><p> </p><p>The department has not made specific assessments of the differences in energy efficiency. However, FTTP has lower energy requirements than copper and cable technologies and requires the use of fewer exchanges, and will therefore likely lead to reduced emissions for similar bandwidths.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government is investing £167m into Made Smarter, the UK’s key industrial digitalisation programme, to put UK at forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.</p><p> </p><p>Fibre is a key requirement for 5G networks, providing high speed and capacity mobile backhaul to match the capacity of 5G mobile networks. It is important that mobile operators and infrastructure providers have access to the key inputs for network densification, including sufficient fibre backhaul capacity.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 4913 question first answered 29/10/2019 17:12:33 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

1150956

registered interest
date	21/10/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to deliver full fibre broadband to to all premises by 2025.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	2799
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Both the Prime Minister and I have set out the Government's ambition to achieve this by 2025. We expect full fibre broadband and upgraded cable networks to play a major role in delivering our ambitions but we are also open to other technologies, such as 5G fixed wireless access, providing they can deliver similar outcomes for consumers.</p> answering member constituency Loughborough answering member printed Nicky Morgan grouped question UIN 2801 question first answered 24/10/2019 17:17:18 answering member 4027 label Biography information for Baroness Morgan of Cotes
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1150958

registered interest
date	21/10/2019
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
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether it is Government policy to deliver 1 gigabit connections to all premises by 2025.
tabling member constituency	West Bromwich East
tabling member printed	Tom Watson
uin	2801
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is determined to secure nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Both the Prime Minister and I have set out the Government's ambition to achieve this by 2025. We expect full fibre broadband and upgraded cable networks to play a major role in delivering our ambitions but we are also open to other technologies, such as 5G fixed wireless access, providing they can deliver similar outcomes for consumers.</p> answering member constituency Loughborough answering member printed Nicky Morgan grouped question UIN 2799 question first answered 24/10/2019 17:17:18 answering member 4027 label Biography information for Baroness Morgan of Cotes
tabling member	1463 label Biography information for Lord Watson of Wyre Forest

1145981

registered interest
date	25/09/2019
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
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 steps her Department is taking to meet the Prime Minister's pledge for full-fibre broadband for all by 2025, including in Hampshire.
tabling member constituency	North East Hampshire
tabling member printed	Mr Ranil Jayawardena
uin	291092
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/09/2019 answer text <p>The government is committing to delivering nationwide gigabit capable connectivity as soon as possible. Much progress has already been made, and this government will continue to take action to remove barriers to network rollout and to ensure that those in the hardest to reach areas are not left behind.</p><p>The government set out a clear policy direction for the UK’s digital infrastructure in last year’s Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review. Since then the government has:</p><p><br> - Issued the first Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom, which provides the regulator with context and guidance about Government’s policy priorities and desired outcomes in the communications markets, including the need for stable and long term regulation that incentivises investment and ensure competition for gigabit capable networks.</p><p>- Consulted on improving access for network builders to tenanted properties and new builds.</p><p>- Invested public funding in the deployment of gigabit capable broadband in the less commercial areas of the country. For example, the Government has launched the £200 million Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme as the first stage in our outside-in programme to rollout gigabit broadband to the most rural and remote areas of the country, and the existing superfast broadband programme has pivoted towards full fibre provision.</p><p>The government has plans to build further on this work, including plans to introduce legislation on easier access to tenanted properties and ensuring new builds have gigabit connectivity.</p><p>Specifically in Hampshire, CityFibre and Toob have both announced plans to invest in full fibre networks whilst Virgin Media have announced that Southampton will be the first city they will upgrade to gigabit capable connectivity. Government is also supporting deployment in Hampshire with projects in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight through the Local Full Fibre Networks programme, having already passed over 7,000 premises in Hampshire with full fibre through the Superfast Programme.</p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman question first answered 30/09/2019 15:30:34 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	4498 label Biography information for Mr Ranil Jayawardena

1137387

registered interest
date	08/07/2019
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 3 July (HL16507), where the UK’s rate of 53 per cent consumer access to 100Mbps places the UK in rankings of broadband accessibility of all EU countries; and what is their target for access to 100Mbps by 2020.
tabling member printed	Lord Mendelsohn
uin	HL16994
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/07/2019 answer text <p>The UK’s current ultrafast broadband coverage is currently low compared to European counterparts however the UK is amongst the leaders of superfast broadband coverage, ahead of Spain, France and Germany, thanks, in part, to over £1.8bn of public investment.</p><p> </p><p>Superfast broadband, which is delivered through part-fibre part-copper networks, meets the needs of most consumers today . However, it is full fibre networks that will be needed to meet expected future demands with the focus not purely on speed, but also resilience and reliability. The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review published the Government’s targets for full fibre coverage.</p><p> </p><p>The last EU report on broadband coverage had the UK at 26th of all Member States for full fibre at just over 2% coverage. However, we have since started to increase deployment at pace and our current full fibre coverage is 8% which represents almost 2.5 million homes and businesses. Our target to reach 15 million premises by 2025 represents around half of the homes and businesses in the UK. We are driving take-up and demand for full fibre. Our £67 million Gigabit Voucher Scheme, launched in April 2018, provides small grants for residents and small businesses to upgrade to a gigabit-capable connection, and support the take up of faster services. Vouchers are also available under the Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme, with higher values to reflect the greater costs of connecting in rural and remote areas.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Ashton of Hyde grouped question UIN HL16995 question first answered 19/07/2019 10:47:52 answering member 4247 label Biography information for Lord Ashton of Hyde
tabling member	4286 label Biography information for Lord Mendelsohn