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 mobile and broadband coverage.

DCMS has already made superfast broadband available to more than 95% of the country through its Superfast programme, and at least a further 2% is likely to be achieved. Of which, 340,000 premises (over 1% of premises) are contracted to be delivered by March 2019. In those areas where decent broadband is not available, we are introducing a broadband Universal Service Obligation so that by 2020 everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to request high-speed broadband of at least 10 Megabits per second. We will keep the speed and quality parameters under review to make sure that it keeps pace with consumers' evolving needs.

My Department created the Barrier Busting Taskforce who are working closely with local authorities and suppliers on removing obstacles that are preventing the widespread commercial deployment of full fibre connectivity.

Working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG ) we introduced 5-year business rates relief for new fibre installation. By enabling 100% business rates relief for operators who install new fibre on their networks, this will provide an incentive for operators to invest in the broadband network.

The Department also recently published a Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review, which sets out our strategy to enable the roll out full fibre networks to 15 million premises by 2025 and achieve nationwide coverage by 2033. This strategy follows the creation of the Local Full Fibre Networks Programme last year, which is designed to stimulate commercial investment in full fibre networks in both rural and urban locations across the whole of the UK.

On Mobile services, the Government is committed to ensuring that the UK has good quality, consistent mobile connectivity where people live, work and travel. My Department is also working across Government, and with others, to ensure delivery of our manifesto commitment to secure 95% geographic coverage of the UK by 2022.

Alongside this work, we welcome the opportunity that Ofcom's proposed 700MHz auction presents to improve mobile coverage across the UK, including in rural area.

On 5G the Government is committed to providing the world-class digital infrastructure the UK needs to compete and grow in the modern economy. The Government’s 5G aims are to be a world leader in and to ensure that the majority of the population have access to a 5G signal by 2027.