Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 that rural communities remain connected following the digital switchover.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The digital switchover is an industry led programme. Customers in rural communities will not have their landlines migrated to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) without an available stable internet connection (VoIP only requires a minimum speed of 0.5mbps).
The Government has taken several initiatives to boost rural connectivity and mobile coverage throughout the UK, including Project Gigabit, the Shared Rural Network deal with the industry, and publishing the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy 2023.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of attaching emergency batteries for mobile phones to telephone masts in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Communications providers have a statutory responsibility to take measures to identify, prepare for and reduce anything that compromises the availability, performance or functionality of their networks and services. Some mobile phone masts have battery back-up so that they can continue operating despite a power outage, although the amount of back up currently varies across the access network.
Ofcom have recently undertaken a public Call for Input on this issue, and in September 2024 they announced they will undertake further analysis to consider whether additional measures are needed. Government will continue working closely with Ofcom, mobile operators and the power sector to ensure there is appropriate and proportionate resilience across the network.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 help (a) improve internet services for rural communities and (b) ensure that internet companies do not have monopolies in rural areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The government helped create a competition-friendly environment which supports over 100 providers in the UK deploying broadband in commercially viable areas. Through Project Gigabit, the government is delivering gigabit-capable broadband to UK premises that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans, predominantly in rural areas, with nearly £2 billion of contracts now secured to connect over a million more premises.
Regulating monopolies is a matter for Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator and it can impose pro-competition remedies on providers with significant market power (SMP). Currently, Ofcom has determined that only BT Group and KCOM have SMP.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 help improve the (a) reliability and (b) longevity of back-up Voice over Internet Protocol phone batteries for vulnerable people; how many (i) telephone exchanges and (ii) mobile telephone masts have back-up generators; and if he will take steps to ensure that (A) the 999 service and (B) other critical infrastructure in Cornwall remains telecommunication operational at all times.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
On 18 November, the Department published guidance which defines the groups of vulnerable people to whom Communication Providers must provide extra support as they are migrated from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony.
The Department also published a checklist of actions that telecoms companies should take before migrating customers to VoIP without their active consent. One of the actions stipulated in the checklist is for telecoms companies to provide resilience solutions that go beyond Ofcom’s regulatory minimum of 1 hour of continued, uninterrupted access to emergency services during power outages for users that depend on their landline.
The Department does not record the number of telephone exchanges and mobile telephone masts with back-up generators in the UK. However, the Communications Act 2003, mandates public telecom providers to take measures to protect the security and resilience of their networks, including critical infrastructure and access to 999. The sector does this by having backup generators in phone exchanges and allowing all 999 calls from mobiles to switch to another network if needed. Ofcom sets, monitors, and enforces these regulations. The Department is working together with Ofcom and other key stakeholders to enhance the power resilience of telecommunications across the UK.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 help ensure equality of access to rural fibre-optic infrastructure.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Poor internet access can pose significant challenges for rural and urban communities alike, which is why the government is determined to improve access and promote digital participation.
The Government is committed to improving broadband access in rural areas through Project Gigabit, which is delivering gigabit capable connectivity for millions of rural homes.
While we expect most premises will be covered by commercial activity or Project Gigabit, for those parts of the UK where this is not possible, government is considering alternative ways to improve connectivity.