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1579638

registered interest
date	23/01/2023
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 her Department is taking steps to help ensure that companies that are given contracts for high-speed internet installation deliver on the promised broadband speeds.
tabling member constituency	Weaver Vale
tabling member printed	Mike Amesbury
uin	130023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2023 answer text <p>The Project Gigabit (Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy) contracts and the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme require suppliers to deliver gigabit-capable infrastructure as part of the specification. The full requirements are set out in the terms and conditions for both interventions.</p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 31/01/2023 09:12:28 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4667 label Biography information for Mike Amesbury

1551284

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
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 recent estimate her Department has made of the proportion of households which have access to a gigabit connection but do not utilise it.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	109679
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2022 answer text <p>According to Ofcom’s <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/249289/connected-nations-uk-report.pdf" target="_blank">2022 Connected Nations Report</a>, take-up of full-fibre broadband where available is currently 25%, with take-up of gigabit-capable networks at 38%.</p><p>Ofcom also notes that take-up may appear lower than expected because networks are deploying at pace and take-up lags behind coverage.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 109680 question first answered 20/12/2022 10:10:51 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1551286

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
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 recent estimate her Department has made of the number of households which utilise a full fibre connection.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	109680
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/12/2022 answer text <p>According to Ofcom’s <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0034/249289/connected-nations-uk-report.pdf" target="_blank">2022 Connected Nations Report</a>, take-up of full-fibre broadband where available is currently 25%, with take-up of gigabit-capable networks at 38%.</p><p>Ofcom also notes that take-up may appear lower than expected because networks are deploying at pace and take-up lags behind coverage.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 109679 question first answered 20/12/2022 10:10:51 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1551287

registered interest
date	13/12/2022
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 she has made an assessment of the potential impact on (a) consumers and (b) competition of telecoms providers which advertise FTTC connections as fibre broadband.
tabling member constituency	Barnsley East
tabling member printed	Stephanie Peacock
uin	109681
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/12/2022 answer text <p>The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity. Our approach to achieving this is to make it as attractive as possible for companies to build gigabit-capable networks in the UK by creating a regulatory environment that encourages competition and investment between firms. Our strategy also includes promoting the take up of fibre broadband to ensure consumers can maximise its benefits. Gigabit-capable broadband will offer consumers a faster and more reliable connection.</p><p>DCMS recognises the decisions of both the Advertising Standards Authority and the High Court of Justice on the issue of fibre advertisement. In 2017, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK's regulator of advertising, reviewed consumer understanding of the term ‘fibre’ as used in broadband advertising (particularly for part-fibre services such as Fibre to the Cabinet) and any impact the use of this term has on consumers’ transactional decisions. The ASA engaged with stakeholders and received a range of responses from providers of part-fibre and full-fibre broadband services, consumer organisations and other regulators.</p><p>The ASA published their findings in November 2017 and concluded by stating the following:“It is not possible to conclude that the word ‘fibre’, as currently used in part-fibre advertising, is likely to mislead and misinform consumers.”</p><p>The findings also demonstrated that the word ‘fibre’ appeared to be relatively unimportant when participants interpreted broadband advertising. In addition, the report found that it generally did not trigger the start of a purchase journey for consumers.</p><p>Both the ASA and Ofcom are independent regulators and matters relating to industry rules on advertising is a matter for their discretion.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 19/12/2022 13:01:48 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4607 label Biography information for Stephanie Peacock

1550490

registered interest
date	12/12/2022
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, how much funding has been allocated to upgrading broadband infrastructure in (a) Easington constituency, (b) the North East and (c) nationally in each of the last five years.
tabling member constituency	Easington
tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
uin	108151
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2022 answer text <p>According to the independent website thinkbroadband.com, the estimated mean download speed in the Easington constituency during the third quarter of 2022 stood at 90 Mbps. This is slightly lower than the North East regional average of 96 Mbps and the UK average of 95. These averages are derived from crowd-sourced data and it is worth noting that users may not opt for the fastest speeds available when selecting a broadband package.</p><p>Further improvements to broadband speeds in the Easington constituency will be delivered as part of our £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, which is upgrading and future-proofing network infrastructure for decades to come. Easington is included in Project Gigabit’s North East England regional procurement, which covers up to an estimated 53,000 premises and has an indicative contract value of £82 million. Building Digital UK (BDUK) plans to award a contract between April and May next year.</p><p>In addition to our Project Gigabit procurements, we are providing additional support through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme to support rural communities across the UK with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. Through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and its previous iterations, we have issued over 100,000 vouchers worth more than £214 million.</p><p>Projects under the previous Superfast Broadband Programme in the North East covering Durham, Northumberland and Newcastle benefitted from UK Government funding of £24 million, alongside £24 million from the local authorities, £2 million European funding and £26 million from suppliers, to upgrade over 170,000 premises to superfast speeds over the lifetime of the programme. BDUK also delivered a Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) project in the North of Tyne area, with more than £5.8 million in government funding.</p><p>At national level, spend through BDUK on broadband in each of the last five years is as follows:</p><table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><p>£m</p></td><td colspan="5"><p>Year</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>18/19</p></td><td><p>19/20</p></td><td><p>20/21</p></td><td><p>21/22</p></td><td><p>22/23</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Nationally</p></td><td><p>38.6</p></td><td><p>29.9</p></td><td><p>9.6</p></td><td><p>10.0</p></td><td><p>12.5</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez grouped question UIN 108149 question first answered 15/12/2022 14:09:09 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1540830

registered interest
date	08/11/2022
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 her Department has made of the need for regulatory certainty for companies deploying full fibre broadband on meeting the Government's target of reaching 85 per cent of premises with gigabit connectivity by 2025.
tabling member constituency	Milton Keynes North
tabling member printed	Ben Everitt
uin	82483
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/11/2022 answer text <p>In 2018, the government published the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR), which set out our strategy to deliver nationwide gigabit-capable broadband. Central to this strategy is our desire to see a regulatory system which incentivises competition and investment in UK fixed telecoms. In this document, DCMS called for regulation that is limited to where it is necessary, and provides the longer-term stability and predictability that investors need.</p><p>We followed this with our 2019 Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom. This document implemented the regulatory strategy we established in the FTIR, including through extending market review periods to at least five years.</p><p>In 2021, Ofcom published its Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review (WFTMR) which set out Ofcom’s decisions for regulation of the fixed telecoms markets until 2026. The WFTMR makes explicit mention of the government’s desire for regulatory stability and certainty set out in the Statement of Strategic Priorities.</p><p>This approach is working; thanks to our stable regulatory environment, there are now over 80 companies investing over £35bn to connect premises all over the UK, and gigabit coverage has increased to over 70%, rising from just 6% in 2019.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hornchurch and Upminster answering member printed Julia Lopez question first answered 14/11/2022 14:57:02 answering member 4647 label Biography information for Julia Lopez
tabling member	4836 label Biography information for Ben Everitt