Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2021 to Question 58990, on Broadband: Banff and Buchan, what estimate her Department has made of the geographical coverage of 4G mobile data across (a) Scotland and (b) the UK; and what estimate her Department has made of the average 4G coverage in each parliamentary constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ofcom is responsible for measuring 4G coverage and provides data at constituency level. Ofcom’s Connected Nations summer update report, shows that 44% of the Scottish landmass had 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators (MNOs), with 81% from at least one operator. Comparatively, the UK has 69% coverage from all four MNOs, and 92% from at least one operator.
Scotland will benefit significantly from the £1 billion Shared Rural Network which will see 4G geographic coverage from all four operators rise to a minimum of 74% and coverage from at least one operator increase to 91%. On 29 June we released further details of how this world leading programme will benefit both the people who live and work in Scotland, and at a regional level across the UK.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many premises in Banff and Buchan constituency are not connected to superfast broadband.
Answered by Julia Lopez
According to data from the latest Ofcom Connected Nations report (Summer 2021), there are 6,753 premises that are unable to access superfast broadband speeds of 30Mbps in the constituency of Banff and Buchan. The latest data from Thinkbroadband shows that 85% of premises in Banff and Buchan can access superfast broadband (>30Mbps), up from 74% in October 2016.
Superfast broadband coverage across Scotland will be extended further through the ‘Reaching 100%’ (R100) programme. The first funding commitment from the UK Government’s £5 billion Project Gigabit was announced in the summer to enable upgrades to gigabit speeds for over 5,000 premises which were within scope for superfast coverage via R100. The government will continue to work with the Scottish Government to extend gigabit coverage as far as possible through Project Gigabit.
Communities and businesses in rural areas not in line for commercial coverage or government-funded projects to provide gigabit coverage are also eligible for immediate help with the costs of installing gigabit through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme as part of Project Gigabit.
Those premises unable to access speeds of at least 10Mbps are likely to be eligible for support via the Universal Service Obligation, which gives every eligible premises the legal right to request a decent, affordable broadband connection, providing download speeds of at least 10 Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the geographical coverage of (a) 4G and (b) 5G mobile data in Banff and Buchan constituency.
Answered by Julia Lopez
Ofcom is responsible for measuring 4G coverage and it does not currently report on 5G coverage. In Ofcom’s Connected Nations summer update report, published on 9 September 2021, 87% of the Banff and Buchan constituency had 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators, and 99.4% of the constituency had 4G coverage from at least one.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Department has made on the roll-out of (a) superfast broadband and (b) mobile data connectivity in Banff and Buchan constituency.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The government has invested heavily in the Rest of Scotland project area, where the Banff and Buchan constituency sits, with £50 million of central government funding allocated. Superfast coverage in the constituency stands at 84.8%, up from 1.1% in 2012
Today, there is 84.8% 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile network operators in the Banff and Buchan constituency, with 99.3% from at least one mobile network operator.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he next plans to meet with his Scottish Government counterpart to discuss increasing the availability of superfast broadband in Scotland.
Answered by Margot James
The Secretary of State met his Scottish counterpart, Michael Matheson MSP, in August 2018 shortly after assuming the office of Secretary of State. Officials from Broadband Delivery UK meet regularly with Scottish officials on behalf of the Department to discuss broadband rollout in Scotland, with the most recent meeting being held on 21 February.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.
Answered by Margot James
The Government’s policy is to ensure world-class broadband connectivity across the UK, including in rural areas, and includes the following steps which have been designed to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.
£1.7 billion of public money is being invested to support vital improvements in superfast broadband coverage across the UK, including in rural areas. In December 2017, we met our target to extend superfast coverage to 95% of UK premises, and we expect to reach at least 97%. .
We have also put in place legislation to create a new Universal Service Obligation giving every household and business the right to request a broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps by 2020, to ensure no-one is left behind. In addition, the Better Broadband Scheme provides additional voucher funding to UK premises that do not have access to an affordable broadband service delivering at least 2Mbps. This will provide a safety net until the USO is in place by 2020
We want to provide world class digital connectivity that is gigabit-capable, reliable, long-lasting and widely available across the UK. We have set ambitious targets - for 15 million premises to be connected to full fibre by 2025, with nationwide coverage by 2033. In the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, we set out our long term national strategy to meet these targets, and to ensure that rural and remote areas are not left behind. Critical to delivering this ambition, is the “outside-in” approach set out in the review, which seeks to ensure that the harder to reach, mostly rural areas which are not viable for commercial investment - are addressed at the same pace as the rest of the country.
The £200m Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme announced in the Budget on 29 October 2018 marks the first step in this “outside-in” process and will prioritise the delivery full fibre to premises in rural and remote areas. The RGC builds on the Local Full Fibre Networks programme which includes a £190 million Challenge Fund designed to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the UK. In addition, Defra has also allocated £30 million of grant funding from the Rural Development Programme for England, targeted at helping to connect businesses with superfast broadband in hard to reach rural areas.
On Mobile services, the Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has good quality, consistent mobile connectivity where people live, work and travel. Mobile coverage has significantly improved over recent years, with 87% of UK landmass having a 4G signal from at least one operator (compared to 78% in 2017). My Department is also working across Government, and with others, to ensure delivery of our manifesto commitment to secure 95% geographic coverage of the UK by 2022. Alongside this work, we welcome the opportunity that Ofcom's proposed 700MHz auction presents to improve mobile coverage across the UK, including in rural areas.
Asked by: David Duguid (Conservative - Banff and Buchan)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with Scottish Government Ministers on the delivery of broadband roll-out between Scotland and England.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Ministers and officials hold regular discussions with their counterparts from the Scottish Government on a range of issues including the improvement of digital connectivity in Scotland.