Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to accelerate the rollout of 5G to rural communities.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Yes, Government wants all of the UK to benefit from 5G and our ambition is for all populated areas, including rural areas, to have higher-quality standalone 5G by 2030. That is why we are working closely with the mobile telephony industry and are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition in the market. As part of this work, the Government intends to reform the planning system to make it easier to build digital infrastructure. Ofcom reports that basic (non-standalone) 5G is available outside 69% of rural premises across the UK from at least one mobile operator compared to 96% of urban areas.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rural broadband coverage.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
It is inadequate, but we are working on it. According to figures published by Ofcom earlier this year, 88% of premises in rural areas can get superfast broadband speeds, and 47% have access to a gigabit-capable connection.
Under Project Gigabit, almost £2 billion has already been allocated in contracts to connect homes and businesses that will not be reached by suppliers' commercial rollout. These premises are predominantly in rural areas.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he plans to take to promote the safe use of artificial intelligence.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government wants to see AI adopted widely to realise its potential productivity benefits, and regulatory clarity will help drive this adoption. That is why we committed in our manifesto to introduce binding regulations on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI systems. We also intend to put the AI Safety Institute on a statutory footing. The AISI conducts research and model evaluations to assess the capabilities of frontier AI systems and works with developers, and international partners, to enhance the safety of models.