Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support the rollout of 5G.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK seizes the opportunity to be a world leader in 5G. At the 2016 Autumn Statement, the Government announced £1bn of new funding to boost the UK’s digital infrastructure, including significant funding for a new programme of fibre and 5G trials. We will be publishing further details on this programme at Budget, alongside a new 5G strategy.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether 100 per cent geographical coverage will be a condition for the future spectrum licences for 5G mobile networks.
Answered by Matt Hancock
No decision has yet been taken.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of mobile spectrum distribution on the data capacity of the UK's mobile networks.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Government has noted MNOs' representations on the issue of spectrum distribution and network capacity.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the benefits of the forthcoming release of 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz for the availability of high-speed mobile broadband in rural areas.
Answered by Matt Hancock
As noted in the initial conclusions of Ofcom's digital communications review published in February 2016, this spectrum "is best suited to providing additional capacity than increasing coverage" (para 3.49, p.30). Improving mobile coverage remains a key priority for Government and as a result of a licence obligation on O2 98% of UK premises should have indoor 4G coverage by end-2017.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department will make an assessment of the benefits to the UK mobile market of imposing a cap on the total amount of mobile spectrum that individual operators can hold.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Ofcom is responsible for the health of the UK mobile market, in line with its statutory duties. We expect Ofcom to consider arguments for and against spectrum caps in its forthcoming consultation on rules for the auction.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to exempt the viewing of sporting events in which nations of the UK are participating from the obligation to pay the TV Licence.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
There are no current plans to amend the TV licence framework in this way.Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assistance the Government plans to provide to broadband suppliers to meet the terms of the Universal Services Obligation.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Universal Service Providers responsible for delivering the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) will be designated by Ofcom following changes to primary and secondary legislation. No decision has been taken yet on funding the USO’s delivery .
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government is providing to remote rural communities on obtaining reliable access to broadband.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Public investment in improving broadband is nearly £1.7 billion, including £790 million of UK government funding, to bring superfast broadband to areas of the UK where it would not otherwise be available. Superfast broadband is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and this will reach 95 per cent by December 2017.
The Government has also implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This allows residents to gain access to every government service available online.
Furthermore, in November 2015 the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to introduce a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with the aim to provide a safety net for those homes and business in the hardest to reach parts of the UK without access to superfast broadband.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to increase the funding available for disability sports which are not currently paralympic sports.
Answered by David Evennett
Government recognises the importance of sport and physical activity to disabled people who take part at both grassroots and the elite level. Our new sport strategy, 'Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation', published in December 2015, emphasises the importance of getting people active, particularly those groups currently under-represented, including disabled people.
Sport England is investing over £170 million in England to get more disabled people playing both Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports; and it will shortly publish its own strategy for England, following a wide public consultation, setting out how it intends to deliver against the government's sport strategy, including how it will promote grassroots sport and physical activity for all.
Elite disability sport is funded by UK Sport whose role it is to ensure that the resources available to support Paralympic athletes are targeted to maximise medal success.
Asked by: Richard Arkless (Scottish National Party - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions his Department has had with television channel and radio station providers on inclusion and the representation of disability in mainstream media.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The government is encouraging the industry to be proactive in increasing diversity on and off screen - including in the representation of disabled people. I have hosted a number of roundtables that have addressed this issue, including a conference in January, which raised the wider issue of lack of representation of disabled people in the creative industries.