Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on considering the needs of rural broadband investment in the Telecoms Access Review.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector and is currently finalising its Telecoms Access Review.
DSIT officials regularly engage with Ofcom on these issues. In July, we published our draft updated Statement of Strategic Priorities to Ofcom that sets out the government’s view on the importance of competition to promote investment in broadband deployment across the UK, including in rural areas.
In non-commercially viable, often rural, areas, more than £2.4 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over one million premises with gigabit-capable broadband.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how many newly upgraded mobile masts will be in North Northumberland constituency; and what plans he has to develop the shared rural network in North Northumberland constituency.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In North Northumberland, there are four government funded Home Office masts that are due to be upgraded as part of the Shared Rural Network. The first of these upgrades at Herdlaw Farm should be activated in July and we will write to you with the details once the mast is delivering new coverage. The remaining masts in Mindrum, Bell Hill and The Ladyship Field will be activated no later than by the end of next year in line with the overall programme’s delivery timescales.