Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many mobile phone masts there are in Ochil and South Perthshire constituency.
Answered by Margot James
I refer the hon member to the answer to written question 133562 answered on 28th March.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department's timescale is for eliminating mobile phone not-spots on motorways.
Answered by Margot James
The action taken by mobile operators as a result of the 2014 agreement with Government, has helped to improve coverage on the UK's roads. We recognise that there is further to go, which is why the Government has a Manifesto commitment to deliver full and uninterrupted mobile phone signal on all major roads by 2022.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what his Department's timescale is for eliminating mobile phone not-spots on A and B roads in Scotland.
Answered by Margot James
The action taken by mobile operators as a result of the 2014 agreement with Government, has helped to improve coverage on the UK's roads. We recognise that there is further to go, which is why the Government has a Manifesto commitment to deliver full and uninterrupted mobile phone signal on all major roads by 2022.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of mobile phone masts in Ochil and South Perthshire constituency.
Answered by Margot James
We have made no such estimate.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans next to meet (a) Perth and Kinross and (b) Clackmannanshire Council to discuss the (i) roll-out of superfast broadband and (ii) mobile phone coverage in those council areas.
Answered by Margot James
The delivery of BDUK’s Superfast Programme in the areas of Perth, Kinross and Clackmannanshire is managed by the local delivery partner, Digital Scotland. The Department has several meetings scheduled with this project to discuss further Superfast roll-out across Scotland. Currently, there are no meetings scheduled between the Department and those councils in regards to Superfast roll-out.
While there are no meetings scheduled with either council to discuss mobile coverage we remain committed to our ambition for the UK to have good quality connectivity where people live, work and travel. This is why we reformed the Electronic Communications Code in 2017, making it easier and cheaper to install digital infrastructure across the UK including Scotland. We also welcome Ofcom’s consultation, launched on 9 March, which outlines potential new licence obligations for rural coverage as part of the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction. This will further help drive coverage improvements for consumers.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve geographic mobile phone coverage in rural areas in Scotland.
Answered by Margot James
Commercial roll-out and spectrum licence obligations have led to improved mobile coverage in Scotland. As of June 2017 indoor premises voice coverage in Scotland was 99% from at least one mobile network operator (MNO) and 87% from all four (up 6 percentage points from June 2016). Indoor premises data coverage was 98% from at least one MNO and 82% from all four (up 8 percentage points from June 2016).
However, geographic coverage is lower and the Government recognises that there is more to do. That is why we reformed the Electronic Communications Code in 2017,to make it cheaper to install digital infrastructure and this should also benefit rural areas in Scotland. I also welcome the Scottish Government's planning reforms in July 2017 that follow our 2016 reforms in England to support infrastructure rollout. We are committed to having good quality coverage where people live, work and travel and I welcome that Ofcom is considering new licence obligations for rural coverage as part of the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve broadband speeds in rural areas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Superfast Broadband is now available to nearly 94% of premises in the UK and is on track to reach 95% by the end of 2017 and we recently announced £645M funding to take this further. By 2020, we will ensure universal broadband access to at least 10Mbps, so that no home or business is left behind.
The Local Full Fibre Networks programme will be available across the UK, including in rural areas. Funding from the programme is likely to deliver fibre installations in areas where the current cost of delivering fibre is not commercially viable.