Caroline Nokes
Main Page: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)Department Debates - View all Caroline Nokes's debates with the Leader of the House
(13 years ago)
Commons ChamberFirst, may I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his Front-Bench position? I look forward to exchanging views with him for many years to come.
I wholeheartedly endorse what the hon. Gentleman has said. I am working with rights holders and ISPs to achieve a self-regulatory solution. It is also important to work with credit card companies and advertisers; Indeed, later today I shall speak to the Internet Advertising Bureau on this very subject.
3. What progress his Department has made in rolling out superfast broadband to rural communities.
10. What progress his Department has made in rolling out superfast broadband to rural communities.
We have already announced plans to roll out superfast broadband to 90% of the country by 2015. Good progress has been made, with nine parts of the country already at procurement stage, including Highlands and Islands, Lancashire, Cumbria, Wales, North Yorkshire, Rutland, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, Surrey, Kent and Medway.
Broadband Delivery UK has allocated £8 million to Hampshire for the delivery of rural broadband. Although that is very welcome, and much more than was received under the last Government, residents in the rural Test valley are still concerned to know not only when they will receive faster broadband but how long it will take to get there. What can be done to speed up the process?
Absolutely. First, we need Hampshire to submit a broadband plan explaining how it will get broadband access to 100% of Hampshire residents, with 90% of them getting superfast access. We are strongly encouraging councils to look at the 10% who will not get superfast immediately and to make it as easy as possible for them to get superfast access by 2015, especially by those communities finding their own community solutions.