Broadband: Rural Areas

(asked on 23rd March 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) stakeholders on investment in fibre broadband in (a) West Lancashire constituency and (b) rural areas in the UK.


Answered by
Matt Warman Portrait
Matt Warman
This question was answered on 13th April 2021

The government is committed to gigabit capable broadband to everyone in the UK by stimulating investment, busting barriers and driving competition. The UK is on track for one of the fastest rollouts in Europe and for half of all households to have access to gigabit speeds by the end of the year. It is a huge leap forward from 2019, when it was just one in ten.

The government is investing £5 billion in Project Gigabit to ensure that gigabit capable broadband reaches all communities across the UK. Further detail on our approach is set out in our Project Gigabit - Phase One Delivery Plan published on 19 March 2021, including using subsidised procurements to extend gigabit broadband coverage and providing up to £210m to fund a new voucher from the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and up to £110m to connect rural GP surgeries, libraries and schools.

West Lancashire is in Phase 2 of the delivery plan. We will begin a national Open Market Review by July 2021 for telecoms providers to give us a picture of where the market plans to invest in gigabit networks over the next three years and to confirm where we need to intervene so places are not left out. Officials from Building Digital UK (BDUK) in DCMS are in regular contact with Lancashire County Council and other partners about the delivery plans for Lancashire.

Alongside the delivery plan, the government also launched a Call For Evidence for the Very Hard To Reach premises in the UK. The Barrier Busting Task Force also published an update of their work in a range of measures to support gigabit rollout.

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