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Written Question
Broadband: Rural Areas
Thursday 22nd September 2022

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure access to full fibre broadband for all properties and businesses in rural communities.

Answered by Lord Kamall

In March 2021 we launched Project Gigabit, our £5 billion mission to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK. Project Gigabit’s objective is to level up the UK by giving hard-to-reach areas access to gigabit-capable internet speeds and, coupled with commercial gigabit delivery, ensuring almost all of the UK has access to gigabit-capable internet as soon as possible.

Our Project Gigabit procurements are prioritising delivery to rural, hard-to-reach premises and to those with the lowest broadband speeds. We have recently signed our first local Project Gigabit contract in North Dorset and expect to award further contracts over the coming months.

Furthermore, up to £210 million is available for Gigabit Broadband Vouchers to support rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections.

Building Digital UK’s legacy and current programmes have already upgraded over 740,000 premises to gigabit speeds, and we are continuing to move at pace.


Written Question
Mobile Phones: Rural Areas
Wednesday 9th February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that remote rural locations in the UK which rely on the 3G mobile phone network will have a guaranteed continuation of service when the 3G signal is turned off in 2023.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government welcomes the responsible switching off of 3G networks, and will continue to work with mobile network operators to ensure a smooth transition that meets the needs of business users and consumers, including vulnerable groups.

We are committed to extending good quality mobile coverage across the UK. In March 2020, the Government announced a deal with the mobile network operators to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. The Government’s ambition is for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027 and we want to ensure that UK businesses reap the full benefits of 5G.


Written Question
Broadband: Standards
Tuesday 8th February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the disparity in broadband connectivity between urban and rural areas.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit to support gigabit broadband coverage in areas not covered by commercial roll-out, adding to the 600,000 homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas already covered by gigabit broadband with our support.

It is the Government's view that the best way to achieve nationwide gigabit coverage and eliminate the disparity in broadband connectivity between urban and rural areas is by creating a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable. This will allow public subsidy to focus on the 20% of the country where commercial deployment is unlikely.

This approach is working. Today, we are on track for the biggest build in UK history. At present, 65% of premises can access a gigabit-capable connection, a huge leap forward from July 2019, when gigabit coverage was just 8%.

Our procurements are prioritising delivery to rural, hard-to-reach premises and to those with the lowest broadband speeds. To date, we have launched procurements targeting rural parts of Cumbria, County Durham, Northumberland, Dorset, and Cambridgeshire. Further information on the procurement approach and timeframes can be found in our latest Project Gigabit Delivery Update.

As part of Project Gigabit the Government is also investing up to £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. The scheme provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband.

The scheme enables those communities and businesses in rural areas not in line for commercial rollout, and those that do not want to wait for Project Gigabit procurements, to get more immediate help with the costs of installing a gigabit-capable connection. Further information is available on the gigabit voucher website including eligibility criteria and how to apply for the scheme.


Written Question
Mobile Phones: Rural Areas
Tuesday 8th February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the rollout of the mobile phone Shared Rural Network will be fully delivered by 2025

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Shared Rural Network remains on track and both the Government and the mobile network operators remain confident that their combined coverage is expected to be delivered to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, with areas around the UK starting to see improvements to 4G coverage long before completion. The four operators have already commenced work on the first element of the Shared Rural Network which is funded by the industry, and are on track to eliminate the majority of partial not-spots - areas where there is currently coverage from at least one, but not all, operators - by mid-2024. Coverage upgrades in many partial not-spot areas are already being delivered, with work to improve coverage in other areas in progress. The 2021 Ofcom Connected Nations report, published in December, demonstrates increased coverage across the whole UK by the mobile network operators, including 46 deployments towards their Shared Rural Network commitments.


Written Question
Farmers: Broadband
Thursday 18th February 2021

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the report by the National Farmers Union NFU digital survey results, published on 8 February, and (2) the finding in that report that more than four in ten farmers do not have access to fast and reliable broadband.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Government has delivered superfast broadband to over five million premises, mainly in rural areas, which means that 96% of UK premises have access to superfast speeds and the UK has one of the highest rates of rural superfast coverage in Europe.

However, the Government recognises that further investment in rural broadband is needed, as the National Farmers Union’s recent report demonstrates. That is why the Government is investing an unprecedented £5 billion to further subsidise deployment of gigabit broadband in the hardest to reach 20% of the country. The majority of this funding will be deployed in rural areas, and will connect farms in these areas. The £5 billion investment will prioritise deployment to premises without access to superfast broadband, where possible.


Written Question
Rural Areas: Broadband and Mobile Phones
Thursday 18th February 2021

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the lack of rural broadband and mobile phone connectivity; and how they plan to address the issue.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Over 96% of all premises in the UK can access superfast broadband thanks to the success of our Superfast Broadband Programme, meaning the UK has one of the highest levels of rural superfast connectivity in Europe. The Government is committed to further improve the UK’s broadband infrastructure and deliver nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible. As part of this, we are investing an unprecedented £5 billion of subsidy to support the deployment of gigabit broadband in the hardest-to-reach, predominantly rural, areas of the country through our new UK Gigabit Programme.

We have already made significant progress in connecting rural premises to gigabit speeds and, since 2018, have delivered gigabit-capable connectivity to over half a million homes and businesses in some of the hardest to reach places in the country, through our existing Superfast Broadband and £200 million Rural Gigabit Connectivity programmes.

The Government is also committed to extending geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK. On 9 March 2020, we announced the £1 billion Shared Rural Network deal with the Mobile Network Operators. This landmark deal will see operators collectively increase mobile phone coverage throughout the UK to 95% by the end of programme, underpinned by legally binding coverage commitments.

On 27 January 2021, the operators Three, O2 and Vodafone announced a joint venture to build and share 222 new masts to boost coverage across the UK to deliver the first stage of the SRN. This will result in increased coverage in each of the UK nations.


Written Question
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
Thursday 27th April 2017

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to clarify with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) the extent to which ICANN has a duty of care to children, and in particular the degree to which it has a duty to minimise the possibility of (1) the worldwide web being used to advertise the availability of or distribute child abuse images, and (2) of paedophiles being able to buy, operate or work for, domains that are expressly established to attract children.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Internet: Regulation
Thursday 27th April 2017

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to require that all internet domain registries that are recognised by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority follow the policies adopted by Nominet, the registry for the .uk domain.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.


Written Question
Local Broadcasting: Television
Wednesday 22nd February 2017

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what subsidies have been provided to local television stations, established under the Local Digital Television Programme Services scheme, by (1) the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and (2) the BBC, since 2012.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

The BBC has provided funding to support the development of the local television transmission network operated by Comux, the holder of the local television multiplex licence. Out of a total budget of £25m, the BBC has to date provided grants totalling £21,191,935 to Comux.

Individual Local TV services also benefit from financial support from a BBC content acquisition scheme operating until March 2020. The scheme was established following an agreement reached between the BBC and the Government in 2011 and which was updated in the new BBC Agreement published in December 2016. Under this scheme, the BBC agreed to set aside £15m for the acquisition of news and other content meeting requirements set by the BBC from local TV stations for the first three years of their operation. To date the BBC has so far provides funding of £7,701,790 to local TV services under the scheme.

DCMS has not provided any funding to local television.


Written Question
Local Broadcasting: Television
Wednesday 22nd February 2017

Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the viewing figures have been for local television stations, established under the Local Digital Television Programme Services scheme, since 2012.

Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde

There are currently 21 local TV stations on air. Data collected by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) in April 2016, showed that an average of 821,000 UK households watched at least one local TV channel on digital terrestrial television in an average week, for at least three consecutive minutes. Across the same period, an average of 1.5 million households per week watched a local TV service for a minimum of three consecutive minutes through any platform across the UK.