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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government's contribution to Project Stratum and the rollout of broadband to rural areas of Northern Ireland, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of that project; and if he will take steps to help ensure that residents in the most rural areas of Strangford constituency benefit from that project.

Northern Ireland currently has the most gigabit-capable coverage of all the nations with 85% of premises already covered. This is in part due to the UK Government’s £172 million investment in Project Stratum, which has delivered connections to over 29,000 premises, the UK Government’s funding of projects to deliver full-fibre to public sector sites, and measures to bust barriers to commercial rollout.

Within the Strangford constituency, 93% of premises can access a superfast connection (>30Mbps) and 86% of premises are able to access a gigabit-capable connection. More than 4,700 premises are eligible to benefit from Project Stratum in the constituency. Current deployment plans confirm that more than 1,000 premises have been upgraded so far, with a further 1,700 premises scheduled to be completed this year and the remainder by the end of 2024.

Residents in the most rural areas of the Strangford constituency may also be eligible for support via the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which supports rural communities with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. The scheme provides a micro-grant of up to £1,500 for residents and up to £3,500 for businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband.