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 publicise the (a) legal right for households to have an internet connection of at least 10Mbps and (b) entitlement to an upgrade to a fibre connection if other interventions fail; and if he will make a statement.

The Universal Service Conditions set out by Ofcom require the two Universal Service Providers (BT and KCOM in the Hull area) to take ‘reasonable steps... to raise awareness of the potential availability of Broadband Services under these Conditions among members of the public’. As of September 2020, BT had directly contacted 47,000 premises that are eligible for the Universal Service Obligation.

In addition, Ofcom, who are responsible for implementing the Universal Service Obligation, are taking their own steps to publicise it through both their website and a localised, geo-targeted social media campaign.

The Universal Service Obligation is technology neutral. It provides a legal right to request a decent broadband connection delivering a minimum 10Mbps download speed. It does not limit the technologies that can be used by the Universal Service Provider to deliver the minimum specification or provide a legal right for consumers to request an upgrade to a fibre connection. That said, the Universal Service Providers have provided fibre connections under the Universal Service Obligation where this is the most efficient technology solution.

In addition, the government has a number of other programmes to help people upgrade to gigabit capable connections, including the rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme for example. This is in addition to our commitment to invest £5bn from April 2021 to bring gigabit coverage to the hardest to reach areas as part of the UK Gigabit Programme.