Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how he plans to allocate the £250 million of diversification strategy funding.

The Government recognises that there is a need to work at pace to make early progress on 5G market diversification. As a first step towards delivering its long-term vision, the Government has committed an initial investment of up to £250 million, to kick off work to deliver its key priorities. Implementation of the strategy will be led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Some of these priorities include: the establishment of a world-class National Telecoms Lab; investing in a R&D ecosystem; and seeking to lead a global coalition of like-minded partners to mount a coordinated international approach to diversification.

The Government's work in this area is informed by the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce, chaired by Lord Livingston and composed of independent experts from industry and academia. The Taskforce is advising my department on the design of targeted measures to deliver the Government’s long-term vision for the market.