Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made reforming the Electronic Communications Code.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government remains committed to delivering a reformed Electronic Communications Code that is clear, fit for purpose, and supports a UK network that provides consumers with a choice of high quality telecommunications services.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2015 to Question 15873, on broadband: Cheshire, if he will take steps to bring the planned coverage of Eddisbury in line with the Cheshire average.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Eddisbury is eligible for extra funding sources to increase local superfast broadband coverage, including clawback funding BT are offering in response to the high take-up of superfast broadband in Cheshire. It is for Connecting Cheshire to decide which areas to prioritise funding.
In addition, the Prime Minister recently announced the ambition to give people the legal right to request a connection to broadband with speeds of 10 Mbps, no matter where in the country they live.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of homes and businesses that will not benefit from the roll-out of superfast broadband in each of the 11 Cheshire parliamentary constituencies.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government's is committed to achieving the availability of superfast broadband to 95% of UK premises by December 2017. Broadband Delivery UK’s (BDUK) modelled estimates of the currently planned superfast broadband coverage for the 11 Cheshire constituencies predict 96% coverage, and are set out in the table below. These estimates are based on modelled coverage at the end of the Connected Cheshire Phase 2 project. Further coverage will be possible through additional funding sources including the gainshare funding that BT have offered in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved.
As you will be aware the Prime Minister recently announced the Government’sintention to introduce a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) by 2020. The USO will be demand-led and will give people a legal right to request anaffordable connection to broadband of a minimum specified speed, from adesignated provider, no matter where they live, up to a reasonable cost threshold. This reflects that many people now see broadband as a basic service similar to thepost and telephone.
Constituency | Total | Planned Coverage (%) |
City of Chester Constituency | 46,652 | 97% |
Congleton Constituency | 44,269 | 96% |
Crewe and Nantwich Constituency | 49,984 | 97% |
Eddisbury Constituency | 39,293 | 89% |
Ellesmere Port and Neston Constituency | 41,636 | 99% |
Halton Constituency | 44,739 | 98% |
Macclesfield Constituency | 45,198 | 95% |
Tatton Constituency | 40,592 | 95% |
Warrington North Borough Constituency | 44,770 | 98% |
Warrington South Borough Constituency | 50,656 | 98% |
Weaver Vale Constituency | 40,411 | 97% |
Total | 488,200 | 96% |
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make it his policy to reopen the Government's Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Broadband Connection Voucher Scheme, which has supported thousands of small businesses, is now closed as the funding has been fully allocated. Any decision regarding new funding is subject to the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2015 to Question 11572, what steps he is taking to ensure that Connecting Cheshire delivers superfast broadband on schedule; and what penalties are in place to ensure that Broadband Delivery UK projects are delivered on time.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The supplier to the Connecting Cheshire project is paid only on completion of the milestones, and will only receive revenues from customers once the network is operational. BDUK works closely with the Connecting Cheshire project team to ensure delivery is on track and that action is taken to deal with any delays.
Asked by: Antoinette Sandbach (Liberal Democrat - Eddisbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) Connecting Cheshire and (b) other local authority partnerships provide timely and accurate advice to homes and businesses about when work will take place to connect them to superfast broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
All local BDUK project are required to have project websites providing information to their residents of the roll out plans for their area. All projects include maps of their intervention areas and regular updates on progress. The majority of projects have seven digit postcode checkers on their site to provide greater localised information. Details for Cheshire’s broadband rollout can be found on the Connecting Cheshire postcode checker (http://www.connectingcheshire.org.uk/check-availability) and on deployment maps indicating broader timescales for upgrades (http://www.connectingcheshire.org.uk/connecting-cheshire-deployment-maps).