Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of replacing landlines with digital voice services in areas with (a) poor mobile signal and (b) unreliable broadband in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK. VoIP requires a minimum connection speed of just 0.5Mbps, and for current landline-only customers it will be possible to order a VoIP landline without purchasing a general internet connection. In November 2024, all major communication providers agreed to additional safeguards to protect vulnerable customers, including those who are landline-dependent due to poor mobile coverage.
We are committed to ensuring at least 99% of premises receive gigabit broadband coverage, which we expect to happen by 2032. More than 99% of UK premises, and more than 95% of the UK’s landmass, have 4G coverage from at least one mobile operator. Our ambition is for all populated areas, including the Surrey Heath constituency, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. We are committed to having the right policy and regulatory framework to support this.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of (a) broadband and (b) mobile phone connectivity in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are committed to ensuring at least 99% of premises can access a gigabit capable connection by 2032, and we are working to achieve this in the Surrey Heath constituency through a Project Gigabit contract with Openreach. The independent website Thinkbroadband.com reports over 86% of premises in Surrey Heath constituency have access to gigabit-capable broadband.
Ofcom reports that 4G geographic coverage is available across 97% of Surrey Heath from all four mobile operators, with 5G available outside 96% of premises from at least one operator.
I am aware that Ofcom’s reporting of mobile coverage does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks. Ofcom’s improved online coverage checker will go live shortly and will provide data at a higher coverage threshold to better reflect lived experience.
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we continue to work with industry to deliver this.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure broadband providers treat residents equitably when determining property eligibility during fibre rollout programmes in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Openreach is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across Surrey, targeted at bringing gigabit-capable broadband to homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas, including approximately 1,900 premises in the Surrey Heath constituency.
As with all Project Gigabit contracts, Building Digital UK (BDUK) collected and analysed information from commercial suppliers about their completed and planned broadband infrastructure in order to identify which premises in Surrey required public subsidy to receive a gigabit-capable connection.
Our Project Gigabit contracts, including the contract for Surrey, target premises which would not normally be commercially viable for suppliers to connect.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Online Safety Act 2023 to help tackle fake news through (a) AI-generated content and (b) deepfakes.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the challenges that AI-generated content, including deepfakes, can pose to the online environment. The Online Safety Act puts new requirements on social media platforms to swiftly remove illegal misinformation and disinformation - including where it is AI-generated - as soon as they become aware of it.
Our immediate focus is getting the Act implemented quickly and effectively. We will then of course look at where we could go further, as set out in the government’s manifesto. It is right that government continually assesses the law’s ability to keep up, especially where technology moves so fast.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that vulnerable communities have access to broadband services in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government recognises that access to the internet is increasingly essential for full participation in society and has taken steps to ensure households across the UK are able to access fast, reliable mobile and broadband services.
More than 25 providers now offer low-cost mobile and broadband packages for households in receipt of Universal Credit and some other means tested benefits (up from 10 providers in September 2022), with the average price of a broadband social tariff being £17.41 per month. Social tariffs could provide consumers with savings of over £220 per year on their fixed broadband bills.